


Darkest Nights

by romeoandjulietyouwish



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Blood, Crying, Drinking, F/M, Female Peter Parker, Guns, Gunshot Wounds, Hugs, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Kidnapping, M/M, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Peter Parker, Punching, Stabbing, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Whump, Whumptober 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2020-11-09 08:30:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 31
Words: 39,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20850491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/romeoandjulietyouwish/pseuds/romeoandjulietyouwish
Summary: Whumptober 2019!Y'all already know what this is. I'm going to try to make each post as unique as possible from what I think others are doing.TW posted before each chapter





	1. Shaky Hands

**Author's Note:**

> MY FIRST WHUMPTOBER! YAY! If you would rather read these on tmblr i will also be posting them there.
> 
> TW: panic attacks, medical

“Peter?’ FRIDAY asks. Peter looks up from where he is lying on his bed doing homework. “Boss is requesting you in his lab.”

Peter frowns, “I told him I have to do homework first.”

“He says it’s urgent,” FRIDAY says without further explanation. Peter sighs and closes his textbook. Sliding on his shoes, he quickly makes his way down to the lab. Something is wrong, it must be. 

When FRIDAY opens the door for him, Peter doesn’t know what to expect. But what he sees is Tony sitting at his desk, seemingly fine. But his face is downfallen and covered with worry lines and the closer Peter looks, he can see that he is paler than normal. When Peter focuses on the man’s heartbeat he can hear it’s faster than normal.

“Tony?” Peter asks as he walks in. “Is everything okay?”

Tony sighs and looks up at him, “No, it’s not.” Peter frowns and sits down beside Tony. His mind is already racing with endless possibilities, some of them too grim to share. But what Tony says is almost worse. “This,” he taps his arc reactor, “is killing me, Pete.” Tony chuckles dryly, “Again.”

Peter’s eyes are wide with fear, “W-what?”

Tony covers Peter’s hands with his own, “It’s going to be alright, kid.” Tony reaches over on his desk and shows Peter another arc reactor. “All I need to do is switch these out and I’ll be okay.” Tony gives him a soft smile, “Normally I would do it myself, but I can’t. And Rhodey and Pepper are both out of town.” Tony drags a hand through his hair, “FRIDAY says I have a week at most.” Peter’s eyes fill with tears. His mentor is _dying_. Tony squeezes Peter’s hand, forcing him to look up. “I need you to do it.”

“Tony-” _There are so many ways this could go wrong_, Peter thinks. _He could kill him._

“I want you to know that the only reason I would _ever_ ask you to do this is because I have no other options.” Tony sighs, “I need you, Pete.”

Peter nods, _doing something when the alternative has a bad outcome is better than doing nothing._ “Okay.” He takes a shaky breath. “What do you need me to do?” 

Tony gives him a sympathetic smile, “I’ll talk you through it.” Peter nods. “We need to go up to the medbay to do it.”

“Okay.” Peter says softly. Tony puts his arm around his shoulder and gently leads the boy to the elevator. 

“Everything’s going to be okay,” Tony comforts. “I’m going to be alright.”

Peter says nothing, but it somehow worries Tony a thousand times more. Normally it’s hard to get the kid to stop talking, so he must be really worried for him to be so quiet. The elevator ride up is silent. Tony rubs his thumb over the surface of the new arc reactor. Can Peter do this? Yes. Tony has complete faith in Peter and trusts the boy to be able to help him. Now Peter just needs that faith in himself.

When they arrive in the medbay, Tony tugs off his shirt and lays down on the bed he’s already set up. He plugs himself into the heart monitor and the soft beeping fills the room. Tony hands Peter the new arc reactor, Peter’s hands trembling with anxiety.

“Tony?” Peter asks, speaking for the first time since they left the lab. He looks down at the new reactor. “I’m scared.”

Tony gives Peter a sympathetic smile, “I know, kid.”

Peter stands in front of Tony, the new arc reactor on the table beside him and his hands covered with blue medical gloves. Peter looks up at Tony with fearful eyes, “What if I do something wrong?”

“You won’t.”

“But what if-”

“Peter.” Tony says calmly, forcing Peter to stop talking and look up at him. “It’s going to be okay.” Tony looks at him with soft, kind eyes. “Take a deep breath.” Peter does. “Now, I’m going to talk through what you need to do, okay?” Peter nods. “You need to take the reactor out of my chest. It should be fairly easy, you just need to pull.” Tony explains calmly. “When you pull it out there is a cable connected to it. You need to unplug that and then plug it into the new reactor. Okay?”

Peter nods shakily, “Is there anything I need to worry about?”

Tony sighs, “Just one thing. When you pull it out, don’t go too fast, okay? You could end up pulling out the magnet by accident.”

Peter, now considerably more nervous, nods again, “O-okay. Will you stop me if I hurt you?”

Tony nods but says, “You don’t need to be afraid.” 

Peter takes a deep breath and steps closer to Tony. He gently reaches out and places his fingers where the reactor meets Tony’s skin. “Can you talk? It makes me more nervous to be in silence.”

Tony smiles up at Peter with complete trust, “Okay.”

Tony starts talking about his new idea for Peter’s suit and some funny things one another or Avenger did last week, and Peter takes a deep breath and starts to pull. At first, it doesn’t move but then gradually begins to come out. The noise is horrible, metal scraping against metal. Peter focuses on Tony’s words instead of how awful the sound is. 

Finally, the full reactor comes out. It’s bigger than Peter thought it was. He gives Tony an alarmed look, but the man gives him an encouraging smile. “Unplug that now, okay?” Peter nods wordlessly and gently unplugs the reactor, switching it as fast as possible with the new one. He doesn’t want Tony to be any closer to death than he already is. He forces his hands to be still as the cable connects with the arc, lighting it in a soft blue glow. 

Peter exhales a soft sigh of relief.

“You’re doing so good, Pete,” Tony says. “Do you need a break?” Peter shakes his head, he hates how it looks, the one thing keeping Tony alive hanging out of his chest. Tony reaches out and squeezes Peter’s arm. “All you need to do push it back in until it clicks.” 

Peter nods, “Is that it?” 

Tony nods, “Then we’re done.”

Peter takes a deep breath, wills his hands to stop shaking, and gently starts pushing the reactor back. Finally, it clicks. Peter lets out a shuddering sigh of relief, stumbling away from Tony. Peter pulls off his gloves and tosses them somewhere he can’t see. He presses his back up against the wall and slides down, covering his face with his hands. 

“Pete?” Tony asks. 

“I’m fine.” Peter’s voice is muffled by his arms. 

“Peter.” Tony crouches down in front of him and gently touches his arm. “Can you look at me, buddy?” Peter lifts his head slightly to make eye contact with the man. “I’m so sorry you had to do that.” Peter’s eyes well with tears and he throws himself into his mentor’s arms. Tony catches him with a small puff of air. Tony’s arms wrap around the slender boy tightly. “I’m alright, Pete. You did everything perfectly.”

Peter sniffs and pulls back, “I-I’m sorry.” He pushes away from Tony and wraps his arms around his stomach. He wipes his eyes, “I was just really stressful and I could have hurt you and I-”

“Breathe, kid,” Tony says calmly. “Everything’s okay.” Peter nods. “Do you want to go downstairs?” Peter nods. “Okay.”

Tony gently lifts Peter to his feet and leads him back to the elevator. Tony’s arms don’t leave Peter’s shoulder the entire time. Tony sits Peter down on the couch and wraps him in his favorite blanket before sitting down beside him and pulling the boy against his chest. Peter’s head rests above his heart, his knees curled up. Tony gently drags his fingers through his hair, “Everything’s okay, Peter.”

Peter nods, “Yeah, you’re okay.” 

“I am,” Tony softly comforts the kid. “I’m so sorry I put you through that.”

“‘S okay,” Peter mumbles. “Someone had to do it. I’m glad you’re okay.”

Tony kisses the top of his head, “Thanks to you.”


	2. Alt #5 - Fist fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Day two! (a little later than i planned) but it's here! Once again if you want to read this on tumblr instead you can find me @romeoandjulietyouwish

In his defense, Peter didn’t know Harley was enrolled in Midtown. Neither Mr. Stark nor Harley himself told him about it. So you can imagine his surprise when Harley saunters into school on Monday morning, his shit-eating grin brighter than the sun. 

“Hey, darlin’,” Harley says as he comes up to Peter’s locker, leaning against the ones next to it. 

Peter freezes, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I go here, goose,” Harley says, he checks his watch, “as of three hours ago.”

“Harley-”

“What do you have first block?” Harley cuts in. “I have PreCalc.” Harley chuffs, “But I’m guessing you took that class..what? Freshman year?”

“Eighth grade,” Peter corrects under his breath. 

“You’re too smart for your own good, darlin’.” Harley reaches out to brush away Peter’s hair. But Peter swats his hand away with eyes full of fear. He quickly looks over his shoulder. “Darlin’?” Harley asks, voice thick with concern.

“Don’t call me that here,” Peter hisses. “Please, Harley.” He lowers his voice, “If anyone hears that...”

Harley frowns, “Peter?”

“They’ll kill me,” he whispers. “Please,” he begs. Peter’s eyes plead with Harley to understand. 

Harley nods, “Okay.” His eyes soften as he looks at Peter’s worried face. But before Harley can say anything else, Peter ducks his head and swings his backpack over his shoulder, walking quickly awake from Harley. Harley sighs and leans back against the lockers. What the hell is going on? 

Someone taps Harley’s shoulder. He turns around to see MJ behind him. “It’s not you,” she says without preamble. “He’s scared.”

“Of what?”

She rolls her eyes, “He really didn’t tell you?” Harley shakes his head. MJ points at someone across the hallway. A boy their age, talking and laughing loudly with a group of friends surrounding him. “His name is Flash Thompson and he’s been torturing Peter since middle school.”

MJ grabs his arm when Harley starts walking menacingly towards Flash, “MJ...”

“Don’t.” She says, glaring at him. “Go to class.”

So Harley does. But he doesn’t pay attention to any of the lessons. He can’t get the image of how Peter looked at him. Harley never wants to see Peter that afraid of someone. Ever. 

When Harley sits down beside Peter at lunch, he makes sure to leave space between them. Peter seems to appreciate it by the way he gives Harley a thankful smile. MJ and Ned start talking about something that Harley can’t bother to pay attention to. 

“Are you okay?” Harley asks Peter under his breath. 

Peter shakes his head, “We’ll talk about this later. At home.”

“Peter-”

“Harley.” Peter says in a way that says ‘don’t test me’. So Harley leaves him alone. Is Harley worried? Yes. Absolutely. Can he do anything about it? Not while Peter is watching or MJ for that matter.

Once the last bell rings, Peter ducks his head and walks as fast as possible out of the classroom and to his locker. He hasn’t seen Harley since lunch and in the back of his mind, he’s worried. Will Harley be mad at him?

“Hey, fag!” Flash shouts from across the hallway. Peter does his best to ignore him, his heart thumping heavy in his chest. He shoves his stuff into his backpack and closes his locker. But before he can turn around, he is being slammed against the lockers, Flash holding him tightly by his arms. Flash’s face is morphed into an angry smirk, eyes narrowed at Peter. “Look at me when I’m talking to you freak!”

“I-I’m sorry,” Peter says. All he needs to do it get Flash off of him and then get the hell out of the building. 

“You better be,” Flash spits. 

“Get your hands off him.” Someone says from out of Peter’s view. Harley. Peter curses himself, he should have known Harley would try to protect him. That stupid idiot. “I said,” Harley’s his voice rough and dangerous, “get your hands off him.”

Before Peter can register what’s happening, Flash is being ripped away from him. Harley holds Flash tightly by the shoulder and punches him square in the face. The crowd in the hallway gasps as the sicking crunch Flash’s nose makes as it breaks. Flash growls under his breath and jumps at Harley, striking him across the cheek.

“Harley!” Peter shouts. He runs toward his boyfriend, dragging him back by his arms and shoulders as he lunges at Flash again. “Please, leave him alone. Let’s go.” To his relief Harley allows Peter to drag him out of the school and into Happy’s waiting car. 

“What the hell happened to you two?” Happy asks, clearly alarmed. 

“Please just drive, Happy,” Peter asks. Happy does, but not before casting a worried glance back at the two boys. 

“Are you okay?” Harley asks Peter. Harley’s hands run over Peter’s arms searching for injuries. “Did he hurt you?”

Peter shakes his head, “I’m fine. You’re not.” Peter reaches up and gently touches Harley’s cheek, a bruise already blooming. Harley leans into the soft touch. “Why did you do that?” 

Harley smirks, kisses the palm of Peter’s hand, and says, “He was hurting you, darlin’. I couldn’t let him do that.”

“I’m Spiderman, you idiot. I would have been okay.”

“Doesn’t make it okay to hurt you.” Harley takes Peter’s hand and kisses it again. “Besides, was defending your honor.”

Peter rolls his eyes, “My hero.” He rests his head on Harley’s shoulder. 

“I hope you know we’re talking to Stark about Flash bullying you,” Harley says calmly.

Peter smirks, “Then I hope you know that we’re telling Mr. Stark that you punched someone on your first day.”

Harley groans, “You’re lucky I love you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment if you enjoyed this! <3


	3. Delirium

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is based off of how my parents would help my sister and i when we were sick. if you would rather read this on tumblr you can find me @romeoandjulietyouwish

One thing everyone knows about Peter is that he is absolutely useless when he’s sick. He does nothing but sleep and mope about the house. Normally he’d spend a sick day with May on the couch, watching shitty rom-coms until he falls asleep. But today he can’t do that. May’s out of town on a girls trip with her friends and she forced Peter to stay with Tony and Pepper instead of at home. Despite all his protests, Peter is glad not to be home alone for a week. He finds it lonely and he thought the might enjoy spending some time with Tony. 

But then Peter got sick.

He drags himself into the back seat of Happy’s car at the end of the school day. His head is pounding with a headache, his stomach won’t stop rolling, his throat feels like he’s been screaming for hours on end, and he can only breathe out of half a nostril. 

“You okay?” Happy asks as he pulls away from the curb. “You look a little pale.”

Peter shrugs, “I’m just a little sick.” He lies. Happy grunts and looks back forward. 

The entire ride to the tower, Peter concentrates all his energy on not passing out. His brain feels fuzzy and his eyes can’t seem to focus on anything. When the car pulls into the garage, Happy looks over to Peter and says, “I’ll follow you up in a sec, yeah?”

Peter nods and drags his backpack out of the car, “Thanks, Happy,” he says, trying not to wince at how painful it is.

Before Peter can get into the elevator, he hears Happy say, “FRIDAY, make sure he doesn’t collapse on the way up.” Peter rolls his eyes.

When Peter walks into the kitchen, he might feel like he’s going to pass out or fall asleep, but that’s beside the point. Tony is working at the counter, his hair flopping into his eyes. When he catches the sight of Peter out of the corner of his eye, he looks up with a soft smile, one only Pepper, Rhodey, and Peter are allowed to see. Peter dumps his backpack on the ground. 

“Hey, kid,” Tony says, beckoning Peter over. “How was school?” Peter shrugs. He knows that if he talks his voice isn’t going to sound right. It’s going to tell Tony something is wrong. Tony frowns, “You okay?”

Peter is about to shake his head but he is interrupted by Happy clapping him on the shoulder and saying, “He’s sick.”

Tony immediately becomes infinitely more worried, stepping closer to Peter and pressing the back of his hand to Peter’s forehead. Peter rolls his eyes and swats Tony’s hand away, it’s a little strange seeing Tony acting so parental around him. “I’m fine,” he says, his voice croaking slightly. 

Tony raises an eyebrow at him, “You are, are you?” Peter groans as Tony presses his hand to Peter’s forehead again. “You’re warm. Come here,” Tony puts his arm around Peter’s shoulders and sits him down on the couch. Peter sends a pleading look to Happy who just shrugs with a smirk. Peter falls back on the sofa with a sigh, Tony sinking down beside him. His face growing more worried with every second.

“How sick are you?” Tony asks. “You look a little pale.”

Peter shrugs, “My head hurts, I can’t breathe out of my nose, my throat feels like I swallowed a handful of thumbtacks, and my stomach hurts.”

Tony frowns and rubs Peter’s arm in a comforting motion, “Happy? Can you get some painkillers?” Tony tugs Peter towards him, the boy falls willingly against his chest. 

Peter doesn’t turn to look at Happy and he doesn’t hear him say anything, but he assumes the man goes to get them. Tony hands Peter a bottle of Gatorade and helps him sit back against the couch to drink it. Peter is surprised by how gentle Tony is with him, he coddles him. Tony’s hands move methodically against his back, his hands warm against Peter’s cold skin. A minute or so later, Tony hands Peter a few pills. Peter swallows them and leans against Tony’s shoulder, feeling too sick and tired to even care about acting childish. 

Peter must have fallen asleep because he wakes up in his bed. The sky is dark out his window and a look at his clock tells him it’s close to midnight. He coughs, his throat on fire, and breathes heavily out of his mouth. His head feels like a brick is sitting on top of it. He groans and rolls over to grasp at the box to tissues on his bedside table.

It’s empty. 

Peter groans again and drags himself out of bed, feet plodding heavily as he walks into the living room. To his surprise, he’s not the only one awake. Tony is sitting on the couch, surrounded by papers and notebooks and various screens. Tony’s head snaps up when Peter sneezes loudly. 

“What are you doing up?” Tony asks immediately rushing to the kid’s side. “Are you okay? Do you feel any better?”

“N-no,” Peter croaks out, seizing into a coughing fit. It only hurts his throat more. 

Tony frowns and gently rubs his back, “Why don’t you come with me?” Peter is too tired and exhausted and just sick to protest. Tony leads Peter slowly through the darkened halls and through Tony’s bedroom to his large bathroom. 

“Tony,” Peter moans, “‘S goin’ on? Why ‘re we here?”

“Hush kid,” Tony gently lowers Peter to the ground. The tile is nice and cold against his legs. Peter watches Tony through hooded lids as he walks over to the shower and cranks it onto the hottest setting. Tony sits on the ground beside Peter, pulling the drowsy boy into his arms. Peter nestles his head under Tony’s chin, finding comfort in the man’s steady breathing. Tony drags his fingers through Peter’s curls methodically.

“What’s goin’ on?” Peter mumbles again, the steam from the shower already making him sleepy. 

Tony smiles, “The steam will help your throat and nose,” he says. “And as an added bonus it makes you sleepy too.” Peter hums and nuzzles closer to Tony’s chest. 

“‘S working.”

Tony laughs, “Of course it is because I’m a genius.” Peter chuckles. Tony smiles down at him fondly. “You know, you’ve grown on me kid.”

“Like a fungus?” Peter asks quietly, his eyes drooping closed. 

Tony smiles affectionately, “Exactly like a fungus. An adorable little fungus who gives me a heart attack every other hour.” Peter hums in amusement. “Even when you’re sick you’re an adorable fungus.”

Peter smiles, “You’re going to be a good dad,” he mumbles sleepily. 

Tony kisses the top of Peter’s head, “I’m already a good dad.”

Peter wants to say more, but the warmth of the steam, the comforting presence of Tony behind him, and Tony’s gently breathing pressing against his back lull him into sleep. 

But just before his brain shuts off, he hears Tony say, “I love you, Pete.”


	4. Human Shield

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyoooo i didn't think i would upload this today, i couldn't think of an idea until legit two hours ago.
> 
> you can also read this on tumblr if you would rather @romeoandjulietyouwish

Peter comes home from school with his head down and his feet slowly dragging. Blood drips from his nose onto his shoe, but he doesn’t care anymore. Peter’s arms are wrapped tight around his stomach as if he’s still trying to protect himself. All he wants to do is go into his room, cry until he falls asleep, and when he wakes up all of his injuries will be gone. 

But that obviously doesn’t happen. 

Because of course when he walks into the apartment, Tony and May are having coffee in the living room. 

“Hey, sweetie!” May says with a smile. She got off of work early today, Peter suddenly remembers. Peter doesn’t say anything, he shucks off his shoes and tries to walk to his bedroom without saying anything. 

“Pete?” Tony says. Peter hears the soft clink of a mug being set on the coffee table. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I just have a lot of homework,” Peter lies. He tries to go to his room, but May stands up and steps in front of him. 

May gently touches Peter’s cheek, making him look up at her, “Peter...what happened?”

Peter shakes his head, “I’m fine. It’s just a bloody nose.”

“Uh huh,” Tony does believe him. “Then what’s this?” Tony tilts Peter’s chin up and gently prods the skin under Peter’s eye. The boy winces. “Did this happen at school?” Both of their faces are riddled with parental concern, so much so that Peter has to look away. May wraps her arm around Peter’s shoulder and leads him to the couch, sitting him on the middle cushion.

“Tony, can you get some ice for his eye?” May asks. Tony nods and disappears into the kitchen. May turns her gaze back to Peter, squeezing his hand. “What happened?”

“It’s nothing,” Peter dismisses. All he wants to do is lay down and cry.

“It’s not nothing,” Tony sits down beside Peter and hands him a makeshift ice pack. “You’re hurt.” Peter lifts the ice pack to his eye, wincing slightly at the cold. “Don’t think we haven’t noticed how you haven’t answered our questions.”

“Would you believe me if I said I tripped?”

“Peter, you can tell us anything,” May says gently. “Is someone hurting you at school? Is it Flash?”

Peter looks down at his hands, twisting them together, “I only did it because he would hurt Ned instead,” he says quietly. Peter sniffs, holding back his emotions, “If I hadn’t stepped in it would have been Ned instead of me. I can take it, Ned can’t.” 

Tony inhales with an exasperated look, “Peter...”

“I know what you’re going to say, Tony,” Peter says. “I know you’re going to tell me that it’s not my responsibility and that I shouldn’t have done that. Tony, would you have been able to stay back if Rhodey or Pepper were in danger?”

“Peter-”

“Answer the question.”

Tony sighs, “No. I wouldn’t have. I would have done the exact same thing.”

Peter nods, “Exactly.”

May squeezes Peter’s knee, “I understand, sweetheart. Trust me, I know how much you love Ned, but he wouldn’t want you to be hurt either.”

“Can we talk about this later?” Peter asks desperately. He just wants to sleep or cry. But mostly sleep. “You can yell at me later.”

Both of their faces soften instantly, but it’s Tony who speaks up, “We’re not mad at you, Petey.” Tony says gently. 

May reaches out a tucks a strand of Peter’s hair back, “We’re just worried about you, hun.”

“I know,” Peter whispers. “But can I just go to sleep?”

May smiles, “Of course you can.” Peter moves to get up and go to his room, but Tony grabs him by his waist and pulls him back on to the couch and against his chest. 

“Tony!” Peter protests with a laugh. “What are you doing?”

“You’re taking a nap.” May throws a blanket on top of Tony and Peter. 

“Here?” Peter whines. 

Tony rolls his eyes, “Obviously.” He wraps his arms around Peter, effectively pinning his arms to his sides. Peter sighs, knowing his protests are futile, and relaxes back against Tony’s chest. As Peter accepts his situation, Tony extends a hand to May. She takes it with a roll of her eyes and allows Tony to pull her into the puppy pile. 

“Yay,” Peter mumbles sleepily, “family nap time.”

“Go to sleep, kid,” Tony says. And with Tony’s steady heartbeat under his head and May’s protective arms around his waist, he has never felt safer.


	5. Gunpoint

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IM HERE YESSS! Yesterday i just got cast in a play that opens in three weeks. Yay...stress...

All they wanted was to have a nice family outing. Since Pepper is out of town, Tony proposed taking Peter and Morgan out for ice cream. His two kids readily agreed. So they drove the short drive to the nearest ice cream place.

Morgan bounces excitedly on the balls of her feet, shaking her brother’s hand as she talks. Peter listens attentively to her rambles, strangely similar to his own. Tony stands just in front of them in line, already ordering for the two of his kids. In normal circumstances, they would have brought Happy with them as added protection, but the little ice cream parlor is only a few miles away from their home. Tony didn’t think it would be necessary. Peter didn’t either. 

Then Peter feels Morgan’s tiny hand wrenched out of his. Morgan lets out a blood-curdling scream as she is yanked away from her bother by someone behind her. Peter whirls around to see a man with a thick beard and dark eyes hold a gun to his sister’s head. Peter gasps and starts to run at the man, but Tony shoves Peter behind him before he can do anything. “Let go of her. Now,” Tony says calmly, his voice’s slight shake is the only thing that tells Peter he’s just as scared as he is.

“Don’t move or I’ll kill her,” the man snarls. 

Tears run in floods down Morgan’s cheeks, “Daddy, help,” she cries. The man holds her a little tighter and she cries out. Peter flinches at the sound. 

“It’s going to be alright, sweet pea,” Tony says gently. 

Peter fixes his eyes on the man, “What do you want from us?” Peter asks, spitting the words. Tony gives him a look over his shoulder, telling him to be quiet. Tony slowly reaches his hand back enough to touch Peter. Grabbing the boy’s wrist, Tony taps three times on the panic button on the side of the boy’s watch. Peter curses himself. He should have thought that. He should have done that the second he saw what was going on. But he was too overcome with the horror of seeing his little sister with a gun pointed at her head. 

The man laughs unstably, “I want you to lose your family, Stark. The same way I lost my in Sokovia.” Morgan kicks her legs to hit her attacker, but it doesn’t work. Peter wants to tell her to stay still, but Peter knows Tony doesn’t want him to say anything else that might put the target on him. But Peter would rather have the target on him than Morgan.

“Dad...” Peter says quietly, his heart pounding in his chest while his spider-sense goes crazy. 

“Be quiet, Pete,” Tony whispers. Tony looks back up at the man, “She has nothing to do with this. She’s just a child,” Tony says as calmly as possible. 

“So was my son!” The man says angrily, shaking Morgan. 

“Daddy!” Morgan sobs. 

“It’s going to be okay, Mo,” Tony says gently. 

The man holding the gun looks like he’s going to say something, but Peter’s watch beeps with a message from Rhodey, interrupting him. “What was that?” The man asks angrily pressing the gun closer to Morgan. “Tell me right now!”

“It was my watch,” Peter’s voice shakes. “That’s all. A message from my uncle.”

“Read it.” He demands.

Peter taps the screen of his watch and reads, “Hey, kid, I’m coming up to the lake in 2 hours. I’m bringing snacks,, do you want anything? Remember not to wear your clothes when we go kayaking again!” Peter hopes the man can’t understand the true meaning of the message. _I’ll be in your location in two minutes. Stay calm, I’m bringing the police. Don’t put on your suit._

The man seems content with that message because he looks back at Tony, “Say goodbye to your daughter, Stark.”

“No, please!” Tony begs, taking a step towards them, “Don’t hurt her. You want me, not her. I was the one that caused Sokovia, not my children.” The man seems to consider this for a moment, but then roughly shakes his head. 

“You don’t understand my pain, Stark.” The man looks down at weeping Morgan and smirks, “Not yet anyway.”

Peter's fists clench and unclench in fury. If Rhodey doesn’t hurry up he’s going to take things into his own hands. Which will most likely end up with him getting hurt, but Morgan will be safe. That’s all that matters. Peter’s heart thumps loudly in his chest as the man’s finger twitches against the trigger. 

“No!” Peter shouts. The man cocks his head to the side at the outburst and slowly moves the gun away from Morgan’s head and at Peter’s. And even though the gun is pointing at Peter’s head, he feels a wave of calm wash over him because Morgan’s life is in significantly less danger. 

Tony steps in front of Peter, shielding him entirely, “Leave my kids alone,” he says darkly. 

The man tuts three times and returns the gun to Morgan’s temple, “Choosing one over the other? You just broke parenting rule number one: don’t pick a favorite.” The cold metal of the gun is pressed flush against Morgan’s fragile head. Her eyes are wide with fear and she looks between her brother and her dad, begging for help. Peter doesn’t know how much longer they can stall him. Peter is about to jump at the man when a loud blast sends him falling to the ground, Morgan crashes on to the hard ground with a sob. 

Tony and Peter rush to the little girl, throwing themselves down to the ground beside her. Tony lifts her up into his lap and holds her close. He assures her over and over that she’s safe and that she’s okay. 

Peter looks up to the door of the parlor to see Rhodey running towards them, haloed by the flashing lights of police cars. Rhodey crouches down beside Peter, “Are you okay?” Peter nods and allows Rhodey to pull him into a comforting hug. “Everything’s okay now. You’re all alright.” Rhodey whispers. Rhodey gently rubs his back in small circles.

Tony looks over at Rhodey and says, “Thank you, platypus.” Rhodey nods and holds Peter even tighter. 

“We should get them out of here,” Tony says softly, Rhodey nods in agreement. He helps Peter to his feet, keeping an arm around the boy’s shoulders while Tony carries Morgan to the car. Peter doesn’t take his eyes off Morgan the entire time, needing to reassure himself over and over again that she’s okay.

Rhodey helps Peter into the backseat first before climbing into the driver’s seat. Tony slides in beside Peter, Morgan still clinging to his neck. Tony takes a hand off of Morgan’s back and squeezes Peter’s arm, “Are you alright?” Peter nods, but they both know it’s a lie. 

Morgan lifts her head from Tony’s shoulders and looks at her brother. Peter flinches at her red eyes and flushed cheeks, but she looks at him with such relief and trust that it breaks his heart. Peter reaches over and gently touches Morgan’s cheek. “Home?” She asks.

Peter nods, “Yeah, Mo, we’re going home.”

“Hug?” She asks, already climbing into his lap. Peter gives her a watery smile as she wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly. Peter’s hands reach up and find their place on his back. Morgan presses her cold nose to Peter’s throat. 

“You hurt?” Peter asks her. 

Morgan pulls back slightly, “My knees and my side.” Morgan lifts up the hem of her shirt to show Peter five purple bruises on her side from where the man held her. 

Peter kisses her forehead, “When we get home, I’ll get you an ice pack, okay?” Morgan nods. “I love you, Morgan.”

“I love you too, Petey,” Morgan says sweetly.


	6. Dragged Away (pt 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLOOOOO FRIENDS! This story is going to be continued in tomorrow's prompt! I hope you enjoy this!
> 
> If you would rather read this on tumblr you can find me @romeoandjulietyouwish

Being a mutant has been illegal for ten and a half years. Growing up, Peter heard stories about mutants who were taken from their schools, jobs, and homes by the government. The government told them that they were taking them to keep the danger of mutants away from society and ‘normal’ people. They said they were trying to find a cure. But even Peter knows what that really means.

Mutant experimentation.

Peter had been safe until he was fourteen. He was bitten by a spider and then his life went to shit. He became Spiderman, a hero determined to save mutants and regular people from the horrors the government had in store for them. He hid his identity as best as he could. He always kept his head down at school and on the street. Not even May or Ned knew his secret. When he became a mutant, he no longer knew who he could trust.

When he first saw Tony Stark in his living room, his first thought was that he was going to turn him in. He was here to collect him for the government. When Mr. Stark saw his panic he sat him down on the couch and told him that he wasn’t going to turn him in. But he thanked his lucky stars that May wasn’t home when Mr. Stark explained why he was here. Someone Mr. Stark called Ross was after him. Ross had caught wind of a mutant saving others in New York and wanted to catch him. Mr. Stark heard this and wanted to protect him. And for some reason Peter trusts him. So Peter leaves with Tony (he left a note for May, but he never heard back from her). 

Meeting Steve Rogers was the first time he had met someone else like him. Steve gave him a big hug and that everything was going to be okay now. Peter has the dignity to say he cried. 

A year or so later, Peter is out on patrol. He comes to sit on top of a building to catch his breath, “Karen? Call Tony.”

He picks up immediately, “Hiya, kid. Everything okay?”

Peter shrugs, “Yeah. I just wanted to ask you something.”

“Shoot.”

“How safe am I?” Peter’s voice is soft and he doesn’t know if Tony can hear him. 

“Kid?”

Peter shakes his head, “I’m sorry. That was a dumb question.”

Tony sighs, “No. No, it wasn’t.” Peter can almost hear the gears in Tony’s head turning. “Peter you know I’ll always protect you, right?”

“Yeah.” Peter kicks his feet against the building. 

“You’re safe Peter. I swear.” Tony says sincerely. 

“Thank you,” Peter twists his fingers together. 

“What brought this on, Pete?”

Peter sighs, “I couldn’t save someone.”

“Oh, buddy...”

“And deep down I know it wasn’t my fault.” Peter shakes his head, clenching his hands into fists. “But I can’t stop thinking about how she was screaming. She begged me to save her, Tony. And I couldn’t. She’s probably going to die.” Peter’s tears begin to soak through the fabric of his mask. 

“Peter,” Tony says. “I need you to listen to me. What’s going to happen to her is not your fault. Okay?” Peter nods, even though Tony can’t see him. He hears Tony sigh, “You need to come home.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m worried about you,” Tony says softly. “Just come home. We can talk more.”

Peter nods, “Okay. Bye, Tony.”

“Bye, kid.”

Peter stands, looking out over the city. He takes a deep breath and jumps off the building. He hears gasps from people on the street. He lets his heart lift and fall with his swings, the wind washing over him. 

Tony hugs Peter tight when he gets home.

“I’m okay, Tony,” he mumbles into the man’s shoulder. 

“Are you?” Tony questions, pulling out of the hug to look into Peter’s eyes. He shrugs and looks down at his feet. Tony gives him a knowing look and leads him to sit down on the couch. “I’m never going to let anything happen to you, Peter.”

“I know,” he says softly. “I trust you.”

The next day when Peter is walking home from school, he realizes something’s wrong. Someone’s following him. He didn’t notice it at first, but when the same car takes the same random turns as him for twenty minutes...

What makes it worse is that he’s Peter right now. No one should know he’s a mutant. He should be safe. But the car following him has a government logo on the side. They’re tracking him, following him until they find a spot to take him. Peter stills his hands’ anxious trembles against his legs. In his head, he can hear Tony telling him what to do it he ever thought they were tracking him. 

_Start walking the other way. Send an emergency alert to Tony, Rhodey, Steve, or Pepper. Go into a building. Stay in sight of cameras. Wait for help._

So he does. He turns around in the middle fo the sidewalk, ignoring the annoyed pedestrians behind him, and walks as fast as he can. He texts a quick message to Tony and keeps his head down. Tony will always help him, he said he’d always protect him. Ahead of him, he can see a small bookstore just a few steps away and he starts to make his way towards it. But as he gets to it, someone grabs his roughly by the arm and starts to drag him backward. 

Peter shouts for someone to help him, the passerbys just duck their heads and look away. He uses all of his strength to get his assailant off, but nothing he’s doing is working. He flails his arms and legs, hoping to somehow hit his attacker. But then his arms are wrenched behind his back and bound together by tight metal cuffs. 

Peter is thrown into the very same truck that had been following him earlier. He cries and screams his voice hoarse, but no one comes to help him as the doors of the truck slam close, taking the daylight with it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this or message me on tumblr!
> 
> @romeoandjulietyouwish


	7. Isolation (Pt 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part two of yesterday's prompt! I hope you enjoy!

Six months. Peter has been missing for six months. No. Not missing, taken by the government for _mutant experimentation_. Tony swore he’d always protect him. He’d broken his promise. The kid had been taken off the street when he was walking home from school, no one’s seen him since.

It’s been six long months of drinking and sleepless nights and crying. Every night he prayed that the next day he would find the boy, but it never came true. He gave up on taking care of himself, he didn’t eat unless someone forced a plate into his hands. And when he did eat, he never was able to finish the full plate. He didn’t sleep unless he passed out or Rhodey or Steve carried him to his bed and locked the door. Every time he closed his eyes he heard himself promising Peter that he would always keep him safe and protect him. Tony hasn’t been able to sleep through the night.

For the past six months, the team has been working tirelessly to find the boy. But they can’t do much by staying hidden. And as much as Steve loves Peter, he can’t risk Wanda, Bucky, Bruce, or himself in the process of finding him. They’ve gotten closer to finding him, but have been unable to find a good enough lead. Peter’s disappearance has taken a major toll on the team. They fight all the time and they all blame themselves and each other. Tensions between Steve and Tony run higher every day. 

Rhodey comes down to Tony’s lab at about two in the morning. Heavy bags rest under his eyes, his eyes are alight with happiness, something that has been missing from Rhodey’s eyes for far too long. “Tones?” He asks, seeing Tony hunched over at his desk. 

“I know, honey bear,” Tony sounds exhausted. He leans back in his chair, setting down his tools. “I know I should sleep, but every time I close my eyes...” 

Rhodey puts his hand on Tony’s back, “I think we found him.”

Tony’s head snaps up, “What?” 

Rhodey nods with tears welling in his eyes, “Yeah, Tones. We got a lead to a facility in Michigan. We think that’s where he is.” 

“James, are you shitting me right now,” Tony says. Rhodey is so surprised to hear his given name coming from his friend's mouth that he pauses for a moment before remembering to nod. Tony gasps and almost tackles Rhodey with a hug. The two men’s arms are tight around each other with relief and happiness.

Tony drags a shaking hand through his hair, “We-we-we needs to go, we need to save him!” He tries to push past Rhodey, but the man stops him with a hand on his chest. 

“We’re getting the team ready in the morning,” he says calmly. “You need sleep.”

Tony shakes his head, “No, no. Rhodey, _please_.” Tony’s cheeks are covered with tear tracks. “He’s my kid, he’s my kid. I-I need to save him. I promised I would keep him safe.”

Rhodey brings Tony into a hug, “You need sleep, Tones. We’ll leave as soon as everyone is awake in the morning. Okay?” Tony sighs and nods, knowing there is no point in fighting him. “Do you want a sleeping pill?” Tony nods again. 

In the morning, Tony wakes up the same he does every morning. His head is groggy from the sleeping pill he took. A pounding headache tells him he needs a plate of food and a glass of water. But then he remembers that they are going to find Peter today. And for the first time in a long while, Tony wakes up with his heart full of hope.

He drags himself out of bed and into the bathroom. When he looks in the mirror, he frowns. His beard is overgrown and his eyes are heavy. This isn’t the version of Tony he wants Peter to see, he needs to look collected and composed. He reaches for his razor with a sigh. 

Half an hour later, Tony walks into the kitchen to see everyone waiting for him. His hair is combed, his clothes are clean, and his face is freshly shaven. Wanda, Steve, and Clint all nod in approval at him. Bruce offers him a supportive smile while Rhodey walks over to him and claps him on the shoulder affectionately. Tony smiles at them, “Are we ready or what?” 

Rhodey smiles at him and looks around at the team, “Hell yeah we are. Let’s go get our boy.”

During the plane ride, Tony can only think about what it’ll be like when they find him. He’ll give him a big long hug, wrap him in as many blankets as possible, and stay with him for as long as he’ll let him. He’ll never let him out of his sight again.

But then Tony thinks about how Peter will be. He’s been missing for six months, that’s six months of injuries and pain and fear. Will he look the same? Will he recognize Tony? Will he want to be comforted? _Will he be alive?_

Rhodey sits down beside him, snapping him out of his thoughts. Without preamble, Rhodey says, “No matter what happens or what we find you have to promise me you’ll survive.”

“Rhodey-”

“I’m not asking that you be okay, I’m just asking that you keep living.” Rhodey’s eyes are intense. 

Tony gives Rhodey a sad smile, “Honeybear, you know I can’t.”

“Tony. You’re my best friend.” Rhodey takes Tony’s hand and squeezes. “I need you to swear to me that you will stay alive.”

Tony sighs, “You’re going to make me say it aren’t you?” Rhodey nods. “Then yes, I promise.” Rhodey sighs and pats his knee.

When they touch down a few miles from the facility, Tony goes on auto piolet. All he can think about is Peter. He walks with the team as if in a daze, he finally comes to when The all of a sudden they’re facing a door they expect Peter to be behind. Tony’s heart flutters with hope.

Steve rams his shoulder into the door over and over again before it falls open. Tony pushes past the man to get inside the room. That’s when he sees him. 

Peter is curled up in a small ball in the corner of the room, his face hidden from Tony’s view. His clothes hang off his bony frame and his skin is yellow and pale. From his position, Tony can see cuts and bruises decorating his skin. Small whimpers come from Peter and he is visibly shaking. From this reaction, Tony knows Peter expects it to be his captors coming through the door.

But Peter is alive.

And Peter is right in front of him. 

Tony steps out of his suit and walks toward the boy slowly. “Pete?” He crouches down in front of the boy. “Peter? Can you hear me?” When Peter doesn’t respond, Tony reaches out and touches his arm. 

Peter’s head snaps up as he flinches away from Tony, pressing himself further into the corner of the room. Tony is frozen at the sight of him. Peter’s cheeks are gaunt and hollow. His eyes are red and his lips are chapped. 

“I’m not going to hurt you,” Tony whispers. “It’s me, it’s Tony. You’re going to be okay.”

“T-Tony?” Peter’s voice is scratchy and it sounds painful for him to speak. 

Tony chokes on his tears, “Yeah. Yeah, I’m here kid.”

Peter reaches out and touches Tony’s cheek, “You’re really here?” Tony nods through his tears. Peter gasps and launches himself into Tony’s arms. Tony holds the boy tight, one hand on the back of his head. Peter cries against Tony’s chest, hands grasping at his back. 

“We need to get out of here,” Tony tells him quietly. “Do you think you can walk?”

Peter shakes his head, “I don’t know.” 

Tony doesn’t hesitate to lift the boy into his arms. Peter rests his head in the crook of Tony’s neck, eyes closed tightly. Tony commands his suit to follow him and walks out of the cell. Steve and Natasha pause for a moment at the sight of the boy before following Tony. 

Peter keeps his eyes shut the whole time, his head tucked under Tony’s chin. Tony whispers reassurances to him, “You’re okay. I’m here. You’re safe. Everything’s okay now.” Tony can feel Peter’s tears soaking through his shirt. 

“Tony...” Peter whispers desperately. 

“I’m right here, Roo,” Tony says gently. “You’re okay now, we’re almost there.”

When they arrive back at the quinjet, Tony gently lays the boy down on the gurney and Bruce begins his examination. Rhodey sits down beside Tony and wraps an arm around his friend, “We found him. He’s going to be okay.”

Tony nods, “Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this or message me on tumblr!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	8. Stab Wound

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO FRIENDS! I've been planning this one from the very beginning and I am so happy to finally show it to you!

It’s not uncommon for Peter to have nightmares, nor any of the other Avengers. It’s not unusual to wake up at any point in the night to find someone in the kitchen or living room recovering from a nightmare. So when Peter jerks awake at three am, he doesn’t even question getting up and going into the kitchen. He intends to get a glass of warm milk and a hug if anyone else is awake, but the lights are off when he walks in. He doesn’t question it and hits the wall until he finds the light switch.

As the lights flick on, Peter hears a soft gasp and then a sudden pain in his stomach. The wind is knocked out of his lungs and he can’t seem to take a breath to refill his lungs. He stumbles backward and looks down. Protruding out of his stomach is a kitchen knife, the handle covered in red magic. He gasps and gently touches the blood pouring from the wound. 

“FRIDAY,” Peter chokes out. “H-help.” Peter looks up and away from the wound. He doesn’t like how the blood looks coming out of his stomach. 

“No!” Someone exclaims. Her voice sounds familiar, but Peter is too out of it to know who it is. “I’m so sorry,.” someone sobs. He feels someone touch his shoulders and his head. Then the voice starts screaming for help, that he’s hurt. He feels tremours in the floor and he assumes more people enter the room when he feels more hands and more shouting. 

Someone gently touches his cheek and says, “You need to stay awake, Peter. You’re going to be okay.” The voice sounds afraid, Peter wants to tell them that he’s okay, but he can’t find the words. “Stay awake,” the same voice says, thick with emotion and worry. 

“Tony, we need to get him out of here, Cho’s still upstairs,” someone else says. All of a sudden, he is being lifted off of the ground and held gently in someone’s arms. A strong heartbeat is under his ear. Then nothing.

Peter wakes up to the steady beeping of a heart monitor. His mind is foggy and heavy and as much as he tries, he can’t pry his eyelids open.

“I am going to kill her.” Someone growls. 

“You need to calm down, Tony.” A calm voice responds. “She’s just a kid-”

“So is he!”

“Tony, she was afraid, she didn’t know what she was doing.”

“If my boy dies because of this I swear, Steve...” Their voice chokes with a sob. “He was supposed to be safe here.”

Peter tries to fight, he wants to hear this conversation. He knows it’s about him, but Peter sinks back into the darkness before the end of the conversation.

“Why isn’t he waking up?” The same voice as before asks. “It’s been three days, why is he still asleep.”

Someone sighs, “It’s the drugs we had to give him, Tony. He’s alright, he just needs to sleep off the drugs before he can wake up.”

A chair squeaks to Peter’s left. “You’re sure?”

“Of course. He’s a strong kid, Tony. He can get through this.”

Peter fights to open his eyes, to see who’s talking. He digs his fingers into the bed underneath him and uses all his strength to try to lift his eyelids. It doesn’t work. “Is he awake?” Tony asks. Someone, Peter assumes it’s Tony, grabs his hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. “Can you hear me, kid? I hope you can.” Tony rubs a comforting circle on the back of his hand. “You’re alright, Pete. Everything’s okay now.” Peter trusts him. “Can you open your eyes?” Peter finally pries his eyes open and blinks a few times. “Hey there,” Tony says softly. Peter tips his head to the side to see Tony holding his hand from where he sits in a chair beside his bed. Bruce stands over his shoulder. 

“Tony,” Peter slurs. His mouth is restricted by an air mask covering his nose and mouth. “‘S goin’ on?”

“You got hurt, kid.” Tony reaches out and brushes back Peter’s hair. “Really bad.”

“What happened?” Peter reaches up his hand to take off the mask, but Tony stops him. 

“Keep it on,” Tony tells him. “I’ll talk, okay?” Peter nods slightly. “You woke up in the middle of the night and went to the kitchen. When you turned on the lights, you really scared Wanda. She had a nightmare too and she was having a hard time telling that from reality. Do you understand?” Peter nods. Peter had experienced that before. “Well she, uh, she stabbed you in the stomach.” Tony shakes his head, “She screamed and me and Steve got there as fast as we could. Tony wipes his eyes. “Pete, you were covered in blood, we thought you were...we thought you were dead.” Peter weakly squeezes his hand offering what little comfort he can. “We got you up to Cho, thank _God_ she was still here. They gave you emergency surgery and you’ve been asleep for three days.”

Peter looks over to Bruce and taps his air mask questioningly. Bruce nods and leans over to help Peter take the mask off. “I’m alright,” Peter says. “You saved me.” Peter bites his lip, looking up at Bruce, “Am I okay?”

Bruce nods, “Mostly. You’re going to need to come in here every few days to get the bandages changed. No Spiderman and no school until I say it’s okay.” Peter frowns but doesn’t disagree. “For the first day or two I want you to be in a wheelchair and you have to let Tony mother-hen you until you’re better.” Bruce smirks. 

“Nooooo,” Peter groans with a small laugh. “Why, Burce, why...” He moans. 

Tony laughs and ruffles Peter’s hair. “You love it,” Tony teases. 

Peter rolls his eyes, “I most certainly do not.”

The moment is interrupted by a knock at the door. Bruce opens it to reveal Rhodey standing with a wheelchair. “Wheelchair for Peter Parker?” He asks with a laugh as he enters the room. 

Peter groans again, “I hate all of you.” 

Tony looks down at the wheelchair and then back at Peter, “You ready for this?” Tony asks. “We can keep you in bed a bit longer...”

Peter shakes his head, “No.” Bruce gently disconnects his IV and heart monitor. Peter kicks his legs out of the blankets to find himself wearing one of Steve’s t-shirts and Stark Industries sweatpants. He gives Tony a questioning look. The man simply shrugs in response. Under his t-shirt, his stomach is padded by thick bandages.

Bruce gently hooks an arm under Peter’s legs and around his back, lifting him off the bed and into the wheelchair. He doesn’t really like the feeling of not walking and having to rely on other people, but it’s better than bed rest. 

“Where would you like to go, Mr. Parker?” Tony teases. Peter rolls his eyes again. “You hungry?” Peter shrugs. “Food it is then.”

Tony gently pushes Peter out of the room. Peter twists his thumbs together. “Tony, can I see Wanda?”

He sighs, “Peter...”

“Tony, please,” Peter begs. “She needs to know that I’m not mad at her, that I don’t blame her.”

“You should,” Tony says as the elevator doors close behind them. “She hurt you, Peter.”

Peter tugs on his hair in frustration, “I know, but she wasn’t herself. She didn’t know what she was doing.”

“Peter-”

“Listen to me,” Peter demands. “I want to talk to her. You can’t keep me away from her for the rest of the time so I’m going to see her whether you give me your blessing or not.”

Tony sighs, “Okay, kid.”

So after a quick lunch, Tony helps Peter to Wanda’s door. He knocks gingerly, surprised when the door opens after a few seconds. Wanda stands on the other side, her eyes red and cheeks gaunt.

“Wanda?” Peter asks. The girl looks over at him, guilt covering her face. “I don’t blame you.”

“Peter-”

“Listen to me,” Peter says calmly. “I know what it’s like to have a nightmare and not be able to separate the past from the present. I know you were scared and that you thought I was going to hurt you. So no. I don’t blame you for anything. I blame the people who hurt you.”

Wanda gets up and sits down beside Peter. She gently wraps her arm around his shoulder. Peter smiles and returns the hug. 

“Thank you.” She whispers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment or message me on tumblr if you enjoyed this!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	9. Alt #12 - Waterlogged

The rain pounds into Peter’s skin through his Spiderman suit. The suit does it’s best to keep him warm, but it does nothing to stop the rain. His legs dangle off the roof of Stark Tower or the Avenger’s Tower, he doesn’t really know anymore. Looking out at the city, he finds it’s strange that the city can still be moving forward when the sky above them is so bleak. Below him, headlights on cars illuminate the street and the pedestrians rushing to get out of the rain as fast as possible. Thunder cracks overhead and Peter knows he should go inside. But he can’t bring himself to his feet.

If he tries to think, he can’t remember how long he’s been up here. But now that he thinks about it, he can’t even remember coming up here. He frowns, that’s not good. 

“Peter?” Steve’s voice comes from behind him. Peter looks over his shoulder to see Steve standing on the roof, holding an umbrella over his head. He hadn’t even heard the door open. Something’s wrong. Steve’s face is twisted into a worried frown. His shoes crunch against the gravel and in a few seconds, Steve is standing over Peter’s shoulder. “Are you cold?”

“I don’t know,” Peter says apathetically. 

“Peter?”

“I think I’m dissociating,” Peter says evenly. 

“Do you want to go inside?” Steve says, his voice is more on edge now. 

“I think so.”

Steve leans down and helps Peter to his feet, pulling him up by his arm. Steve brings the umbrella to shelter himself and Peter. The rain no longer hitting them, Steve wraps his arm around the boy’s shoulders and leads him back inside. 

Peter walks as if in a daze. He’s grateful that Steve is supporting him because otherwise he surely would have fallen. Steve’s thumb presses tightly into Peter’s shoulder and he knows it should be hurting him but it’s not. He must be further off than he thought. At some point during the walk inside, Steve wraps a fluffy towel around Peter’s shoulders.

When they walk into the living room, Bucky is lounging on the couch reading a book. 

“Bucky?” Steve asks. Bucky looks and glances at Peter with a concerned frown.“Can you get him a change of clothes?”

Bucky’s anxious gaze flips between Steve and Peter before nodding and disappearing out of the room. Peter reaches up to pull the towel tighter around his shoulders. Steve sits him down on the couch, taking one of his hands. 

“Peter, can you squeeze my hand?” Peter says nothing but tightens his grip on Steve’s hand slightly. “I want you to focus on how warm my hand is. How does the pressure feel?” Peter squeezes his hand again, a little harder. “Good. And again.” Steve has Peter squeeze his hand dozens of more times over the next few minutes until Bucky comes back with a stack of clothes and a steaming mug. “Thanks, Buck,” Steve says. Bucky smiles and down beside Steve. 

“How are you feeling, Peter?” Bucky asks gently. He recognizes the look on Peter’s face, how he’s not completely there. It’s a look he’s seen on Steve thousands of times before.

“Better. Warm.” Peter says. 

Bucky takes Peter’s hand and gives him the mug of hot cocoa. “Try taking a drink of that.”

Peter robotically brings the mug to his lips and takes a drink. He immediately recoils with a wince, “Why is that so hot!” 

Bucky smiles, “That used to be the only way I could get Steve back from the void.” He shrugs, “I thought it might work for you too.” Steve and Bucky share a reminiscent smile that Peter doesn’t quite understand. 

“Thank you, Bucky,” Peter says. He sets his mug down on the table and rubs his fingers together through the Spiderman suit.

“Of course,” Bucky says. Because of course, he would help a struggling child. 

Peter looks between them, “Can I change?”

Steve pats Peter’s shoulder, “Of course.” Peter scoops the clothes up into arms and walks out of the living room. 

“He reminds me of you, you know,” Bucky says, his eyes returning to Steve when Peter leaves. 

Steve rolls his eyes, “Because he’s a reckless kid?”

“Exactly,” Bucky teases. “He’s reckless, and young, and good, and has a strong sense of justice.” Steve scoffs and gently punches Bucky’s shoulder with a laugh. The two share a smile before Bucky asks, “What do you think happened?”

Steve sighs, “I have no idea. Stark has been really worried about him recently, so it could be anything. He doesn’t exactly pass around Peter’s medical records”

Bucky nods, “So what’s our game plan?”

“Keep him warm and calm, maybe get him to fall asleep.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

Right on cue, Peter walks into the room. His curls are still damp from the rain and he now is all dry wearing one of Steve’s sweaters and Bucky’s sweatpants. The sleeves of the sweater cover Peter’s hands entirely. He walks slowly back to the couch and sinks down beside Steve again, his legs curling up to his chest. 

“How are you feeling?” Steve hands back Peter’s mug. 

Peter blows gently on the cocoa, “Better. Thank you both.”

Bucky smiles, “Of course.”

Peter fidgets with his mug, “Can I ask you guys to do something?” Steve nods. “Can you not tell Tony? I don’t want him to worry more than he already does.” Peter rolls a loose thread between his fingers. 

Steve sighs, “You know we can’t keep this from him. I’m sorry, Peter.”

Peter looks down, “He’s just really worried about me and I don’t want him to freak out.” 

“Why were you on the roof?” Bucky asks. 

Peter sighs, “I don’t know.” He looks between Steve and Bucky. “Honestly, I don’t. I remember hearing the rain and the next thing I knew I was on the roof.” Peter’s eyes well with tears. “I-I don’t understand what’s going on.” Steve squeezes Peter’s hand.

“Peter...”

“I know that’s not okay. I know there’s something wrong,” Peter interrupts. He bites his lip. “I just...I thought I was getting better.” Steve’s face softens and he wraps his arm around Peter and draws him a bit closer. Peter sniffs, “I don’t know what’s wrong-wrong with me. I’m-I’m so lo-lost and confused. I just...I just want to be okay again,” he says desperately.

And that final, broken phrase is what makes Steve pull Peter into his arms and hold on as tight as he can. Bucky reaches out and gently combs his hand through Peter’s hair. Peter clutches close to Steve, hiding his face against Steve’s neck. Peter hiccups through his sobs.

“Shh...” Steve whispers. “It’s going to be okay.”

“Not for a while,” Peter whispers hopelessly.

“No,” Bucky agrees, “but eventually.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this please leave a comment or message me on tumblr!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	10. Unconscious

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first Penny Parker fic and of course it's inspired by the incredible @justme--emily on tumblr

Winter used to be Penny’s favorite season. She loved the snow and ice skating and window shopping with her best friends. But once she became Spidergirl, she didn’t enjoy it as much anymore. Her thermoregulation basically went down to zero. Even sitting next to a window makes her shiver. 

Penny shoves an extra handwarmer into her gloves and yanks a hat down tight over her ears. Under her thick jacket, she has a sweater and a sweatshirt as well as more hand warmers in her pockets. Her socked feet barely fit into her boots. Before she leaves, May kisses Penny’s forehead and tells her to stay warm. 

She takes a deep breath and walks out of the door. It’s so much colder than she thought. The cold air creeps under her jacket and presses against her skin. Penny shivers and wraps her arms tight around herself. It takes her so much longer to get to school than normal, simply because of how much she is shivering. 

When she finally slides into her seat first hour, Ned leans across the aisle and asks, “You good?” His face is twisted into that concerned frown he always wears when it comes to Penny’s well being.

Penny nods, “Yeah. I’m okay.” But she knows she’s lying. She can feel every brush of air against her skin and every draft in the room. But in school, she’s not allowed to wear hats or gloves. So she heats up a handwarmer and sticks it in her pocket. 

At lunch, MJ pushes a thermos of steaming soup at her, “You need it.”

“Thanks,” Penny says quietly. 

And so the day goes. The heating in the school is so awful that she can’t stop shivering. Ned and MJ help her as best as they can, and she is thankful for them, but there’s not much they can do. By some miracle, Penny makes it to the end of the days. She gets out of school and into Happy’s car as fast as she can. Happy already has the heater blasting and a steaming mug of hot chocolate waiting for her. 

“Thanks, Happy,” she says kindly as she takes off her backpack. 

“Of course, kid,” Happy has a soft smile on his face that Penny has only seen rarely. 

In the heat of the car, Penny is able to take off her winter jacket. Glad the some of the pressure on her chest is alleviated, she gingerly sips on the hot chocolate. 

After a few minutes of warming herself up, Penny’s eyes start to droop closed. Whether it’s the heat or just how exhausted her body is from fighting the cold all day, Penny doesn’t know. But soon she can no longer keep her eyes open and she falls into a peaceful sleep.

When Tony gets a text from Happy that Penny fell asleep in the car, he smiles to himself. Of course, she did. So he meets Happy in the garage. 

“Not a word,” Tony says to Happy as he opens the door to the car and gently lifts the sleeping girl into his arms. 

Happy snorts, “Wouldn’t dream of it, boss. I’ll grab her backpack.”

Tony is careful not to jostle Penny as he carries her to the elevator and to the couch. Pepper, who sits working at the table, looks up at him with a knowing smirk. 

“Do you have something to say?” Tony asks Pepper with a teasing smile. 

“Nope,” Pepper says with a light laugh as her husband sits down on the couch with their pseudo daughter laying on his chest.

Penny wakes up nearly two hours later. The first thing she feels is warmth, surrounding her. A soft hand cards through her hair, tugging lightly. Penny smiles and nuzzles closer to the hand. Someone above her laughs deeply and it rumbles under her head. 

“You awake, Pen?” Tony asks above her. 

“Mmm,” Penny hums. “Time is it?”

“Almost five now,” Tony says. “Want to open your eyes?”

Penny opens her eyes and sticks out her tongue at Tony. She finds her head resting on Tony’s chest. One of his hand is around her waist, holding her close, while the other is in her hair. Piled on top of them is a heated blanket and a fluffy blanket. 

“You must have been freezing today,” Tony says thoughtfully. “I’m surprised you made it as long as you did. You were dead on your feet.”

Penny nods, “School doesn’t have good heating.”

Tony frowns, “We’ll figure something out, okay?”

She nods again, “Can I go back to sleep?”

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this please leave a comment or message me on Tumblr! <3
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	11. Alt #9 - Hiding

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: panic attack, flashback, light discussion of trauma, drinking

Rhodey gets a call from Peter at midnight, of course, he answers right away, “Peter? Everything okay?”

“No...no,” Peter whispers. His voice is hoarse and rough. “Rhodey, I’m scared,” he says, so quiet Rhodey almost misses it. 

“Peter? Are you hurt? Where are you?” Rhodey is already grabbing his keys and rushing out his door. 

“I...I don’t know if I’m hurt,” Peter says. “I don’t think...think so. I’m at the house.” 

“Okay, Pete,” Rhodey says. “I’m on my way, can you stay on the phone until I get there?”

“I’m really scared, Rhodey,” Peter whimpers. 

“I know,” Rhodey soothes. “I’m going to be there as soon as I can, okay?”

“Okay.” On Peter’s line, a loud crash and a frustrated shout come from far away. Peter whimpers, his breathing starting to speed up. 

“Peter, Peter what’s going on?” Rhodey asks, trying to get the boy’s attention back. Is someone in the house? He presses hard on the gas pedal. 

“I-I don’t know,” Peter’s voice shakes with fear. 

“Is someone in the house?” Rhodey asks intensely. 

“It’s just me-me and Tony,” Peter whispers into the receiver. 

Rhodey sighs in relief, that’s one less problem. But that might mean...“Peter,” Rhodey says gently, “what year is it?”

“Wh-what?” Peter stutters. 

“What year is it?” Rhodey prays that Peter will know the answer. 

“It’s...it’s...I don’t know,” Peter’s voice trails off. 

“It’s 2019, Peter. Can you repeat that back to me?” Rhodey finally arrives at the Stark house. But Tony’s car is in the driveway. What? Why did Peter call him when Tony’s home? Pepper and Morgan are spending the weekend in the city and Tony had promised Peter to have a “boy’s weekend” at the lake. So what happened?

“It’s 2019,” Peter repeats weakly. 

“Good job, Pete.” Rhodey jumps out of the car and runs up to the door. “I’m at the house,” Rhodey says. “Where are you?”

“My room,” he says. 

Rhodey runs inside, not even bothering looking for Tony. Right now Peter needs him. He runs down the hall, stopping in front of Peter’s bedroom. He knocks gently on the door, “Peter? It’s Rhodey. Can I come in?” Nothing. After a few seconds when Peter doesn’t answer, Rhodey opens the door. 

Rhodey doesn’t see Peter at first, he’s not at his desk or on his bed. Then he hears a telltale sniffle coming from the closet. Rhodey walks over to the closet and crouches down beside the open door. There he sees Peter curls up in a ball, he is motionless, head pressed against his knees. 

“Peter?’ Rhodey asks gently. Peter’s head quickly snaps to look at Rhodey, eyes wide with fear. “I’m not going to hurt you,” Rhodey says, showing Peter his hands, palm up. Peter doesn't’ take his eyes off of Rhodey’s hands. “You’re safe with me. You’re safe here. It’s just you and me okay?” Peter nods reaches out a shaking hand to touch Rhodey’s. Rhodey smiles, progress. “Can I touch you?” Peter nods after a moment and leans into the embrace Rhodey offers him. “You’re safe here,” Rhodey repeats. “I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.” Peter takes a shallow breath.

Rhodey gently rubs Peter’s back in small circles. Peter’s hands are clutched tightly in Rhodey’s shirt, taking shaky breaths. Rhodey gently coaches through some breathing exercises until finally, Peter pulls his head away from Rhodey’s chest. Peter’s cheeks are wet and his eyes bloodshot. 

“Peter?” Rhodey asks. “If it’s okay, can you tell me what happened?”

Peter wipes his eyes, “Um, Tony and I were watching a movie...and...and he got a...drink.” Peter sniffs, “He smelled like alcohol.” Rhodey rubs Peter’s back, beginning to understand. “He started to drink more and...and...”

“It’s alright, Peter,” Rhodey says gently. “You don’t need to keep going.”

“That’s not it though,” Peter says. “He got really drunk and started talking loud. He was gesturing a lot and he wouldn’t stop moving. When...when I started to cry he got really upset and ran away. He slammed doors and started yelling in a different room. It-it made me remember...”

“That’s enough,” Rhodey says not unkindly. He holds Peter a little longer before looking at the clock and asking,“Do you think you can sleep?” Peter nods. “Okay, you get some sleep. I’ll stay here until morning and then we can talk to Tony.” Peter nods again.

Peter tucks himself into his bed, holding a stuffed bear close to his chest. “Night, kid,” Rhodey whispers before shutting off the lights and closing the door, making sure to leave it slightly cracked. With a resigned sigh, Rhodey grabs a pillow and blanket from the closet and settles down on the couch. 

Rhodey wakes up to someone shaking his shoulder. He groggily opens his eyes to see Tony standing above him, eyes hooded with dark circles under his eyes. 

“What are you doing here, honey bear?” Tony’s voice is scratchy. 

Rhodey sits up and pats the cushion of Tony to sit down beside him. He does with a confused frown. “Peter called me,” Rhodey says. “Do you remember anything from last night?”

Tony sighs, running a hand over his face, “Not really.”

Rhodey nods, “Okay, um. He told me you got really drunk last night and you scared him.” When Tony doesn’t understand, Rhodey elaborates, “Tony, he had a flashback. He called me to help him so I came here and helped comfort him.”

“He had a flashback?” Tony asks desperately. Rhodey nods. “Shit, how do I...what do I do, Rhodey? I hurt my kid.” Tony’s head falls, despair clear on his face.

Rhodey squeezes his arm, “When he wakes up well talk. Okay? But before we can do that you need to take a shower and brush your teeth.” Tony nods in agreement.

Just as Rhodey is finishing up making breakfast, Peter walks in.

“Hey, Peter,” Rhodey says as the boy drags his feet into the kitchen. “How are you feeling?” Rhodey scoops a pile of eggs on to Peter’s plate. 

Peter shrugs, “I’m okay.” Peter stabs some eggs onto his fork. “Is Tony up?”

Rhodey nods, “Yeah, he’s in the shower right now. Are you going to be okay to talk to him about this?”

“We’ll find out,” Peter says quietly. “Thank you for coming by the way. You didn’t have to do that and it really means a lot.”

Rhodey smiles, “Of course. I’m glad I could help you.” Peter gives him a shaky smile and digs into his breakfast.

A few minutes later, Tony walks into the kitchen, hair dripping. He stops for a moment when he sees Peter, but Rhodey gestures him in. Tony gingerly sits beside Peter and Rhodey passes him breakfast. Rhodey hopes he doesn’t see how slightly Peter leans away from him and the tension floods into his shoulders. But Tony can read his kids like an open book. 

None of them talk as they eat, Rhodey can tell that both men are nervous, both too much so to break the ice. While Rhodey washes up the dishes, he sends Peter into his room to get dressed. A few minutes later Peter walks back into the kitchen wearing one of Tony’s oversized sweatshirts that covers his hands. Rhodey offers him a comforting smile before leading Tony and Peter into the living room. He forces the two of them to sit beside each other by taking the place by the armrest. 

This time Rhodey knows that Tony sees that Peter sits closer to Rhodey than himself. Tony’s face twists into a small frown but it disappears quickly enough that Rhodey doesn’t think Peter has noticed any change.

“Peter,” Tony begins, “Rhodey told me what happened last night and I want to tell you how goddamn sorry I am. When I became a parent I swore to myself that I would never be like my dad. I hurt you last night, Pete and I will never forgive myself for that.”

“You didn’t hurt me,” Peter says quietly. “I’m okay.”

Tony gives him a sad smile, “You know that’s not what I mean.” Tony leans a bit forward, “Tell me how I can make this better.”

“Don’t drink,” Peter says, seeming shocked at his own word, he is quick to backtrack. “I know that’s a lot to ask, but-”

“It’s not,” Tony interrupts. “It’s not too much to ask if it will help you feel safe in this house.”

Peter looks up at him with childlike trust, “Thank you, Tony.” Peter says gratefully.

“Can I give you a hug?” Tony asks. Peter nods and falls into Tony’s arms with a soft smile. Tony looks up from his kid to Rhodey and reaches out a hand. Rhodey takes it with an eye roll and allows Tony to yank him into the hug with Peter in the middle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this please leave a comment or hmu on tumblr! <3
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	12. Don't Move

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: home invasion, guns

Peter and Ned were trying to have a nice evening. They were sitting in Peter’s room, each basking in the other’s company, but not talking. Peter sits on his bed working on an essay for his English class and Ned sits near his feet reading a book. 

Peter is about to close his laptop and ask Ned what they should order for dinner when he hears glass breaking. Both of their heads fly up, making alarmed eye contact with each other, what’s happening? Peter’s spider-sense starts to throb and when he focuses on it, his enhanced hearing picks up whispering from two deep male voices. 

“Ned,” Peter whispers. “Someone broke in.” Ned’s eyes widen even further. He immediately is on his feet, Peter following suit. The voices are getting closer as they move through the apartment. and Peter’s heart won’t slow. 

“We need to fight,” Ned says, determination alight in his eyes. 

Peter shakes his head, already dragging Ned towards his small closet, “No. You’re going to get hurt. We need to hide.” Ned tries to fight him, but Peter’s too strong for Ned to break away. Peter shoves Ned into the closet first before squeezing into the small room himself. They cram themselves into the space under Peter’s hanging clothes, shutting the door in front of them. Sending them into darkness. 

The only way they fit in the closet is kneeling facing each other. Peter can hear Ned’s heart pounding and his breathing coming quickly. The stuffy dust of Peter’s closet tickles his nose slightly. Ned lets out a slight gasp and pinches Peter’s nose closed before he can sneeze. Both boys let out a soft sigh in relief. Ned looks like he's about to whisper something to Peter, but at the same time Ned opens his mouth, Peter’s bedroom door creaks open. They freeze in petrified silence. 

Peter can hear the steady thump of the intruder’s heartbeat as well as the floorboard that creak under their weight. Ned grabs Peter’s hand tightly and squeezes, whether it’s comforting or terrified, Peter doesn’t know. He appreciates the contact none the less. 

A crash from inside Peter’s room makes both of them jump. Ned’s eyes blow wide as he makes intense eye contact with Peter. Both of them are breathing heavily now, squeezing each other’s hands so hard it must hurt. 

“What are you doing?!” The intruder whispers. “I told you not to touch anything we’re not taking, dumbass.”

“It was an accident!” The other one hisses. “We almost ready to go?”

“No! We haven't found any of Stark’s tech yet. So get your ass moving!”

Peter’s breath catches in his throat. _Stark tech_. Like the Stark tech that is currently on the shelf above them in the form of Peter’s Spiderman suit. _What are we going to do?_ He can still hear two people in his bedroom. They’re rummaging through his drawers and shelves looking for something that sits a few feet above their heads. 

“Peter...” Ned whispers under his breath. 

“I know,” Peter hisses. “Don’t move.”

Just as he says that someone walks towards the closet. A dark shadow comes disrupts the light coming in at the crack under the door. And Peter stops breathing. They’re out of time. He has no time to make a plan. He stands up in the closet, his back brushing up against his clothes. 

Just as the handle starts to turn, Peter rams his body into the door, smashing it back at the person opening it. The two intruders scream the one who was opening the door tumbles to the ground, unconscious. When Peter looks up the other one is already pointing a gun at Peter’s head. 

“Hello,” the man taunts as he flips the safety off. “You must be Spiderman.”

“What’s it to you?” Peter asks, trying to play off his fear as cockiness. It’s not working very well. 

The man gives him a sly smirk, “It’s nice to meet you Spiderman. Now, give me your tech and you don’t have to die.”

Peter rolls his eyes, “Villians. You’re all the same. Blah blah, ultimatum, blah. Come up with something new man. Like, threaten my stuffed bear or something. Why does it always have to be me.” Peter wishes he was wearing his mask, it helps him feel like a different person like he doesn’t have to be shy nerdy Peter Parker. But now he has to fight as himself.

The intruder walks towards Peter quickly. Peter doesn’t flinch. The gun is now flush against Peter’s forehead. Peter can see sweat beading on the intruder’s forehead and how his jaw is clenched tight. Peter can help that his heart starts to beat faster with the cold metal of the gun flush against his skin. 

“You talk too much for my taste,” the man glares. “I should just kill you and search for the tech on my own.” His finger tenses on the trigger.

Before the intruder can shoot Peter, something yanks it out of his hands. Peter follows the path of the gun as it lands in Ned’s hand, web-shooters clad on his wrists. Internally, Peter wants to applaud Ned, but they’re not out of the woods yet. Peter spins around and kicks the intruder in the stomach, sending him flying back against the wall beside Peter’s bed. Peter expects he’ll have to hit him so more to knock him out, but when he hits the wall, the man’s head snaps back and smashes into the wall. 

Peter and Ned look at each other for a split second before running at each other and meeting in a tight hug.

“Are you okay?” They both ask each other at the same time. Both boys chuckle with relieved smiles. 

“I’m okay,” Ned says first. “You’re a badass.”

Peter grins, “Did you see what you did with that gun?! That was awesome!” Peter and Ned perform their handshake with elated smiles.

“So,” Ned huffs, “what do we do about them?” He looks at the two intruders unconscious on the floor. “911 or Mr. Stark ?”

“Tony will freak out more if they’re still here,” Peter says logically. “911 first.”

“Agreed.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not too happy with the ending but meh whatever. 
> 
> If you enjoyed this please leave a comment or HMU on tumblr! 
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	13. Alt #2 - Broken Voice

Peter’s throat is killing him. He’s been couching non-stop since he’s arrived at the tower. He tries to keep it as quiet as possible, but clearly it’s not working too well when Tony turns to him and asks, “You alright, kid?”

Peter nods, “Yeah, I’m good.”

Tony lifts an eyebrow, “Yeah? Then why have you been coughing for half an hour?”

“I’m fine,” Peter’s voice sounds horrible to his ear, scratchy and hoarse. “Just a little cough.”

“Do you want a cup of tea?” 

Peter scoffs, “You’re going to make me tea?”

“Why not?” Tony says. “Come on.” Tony stands and, expecting Peter to follow, begins to leave the lab. Tony slings his arm around Peter’s shoulders, “Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”

Peter shrugs, “You were busy and I wanted to do work. I’m fine.”

“Shut up or you’re going to lose your voice,” Tony says not unkindly. Peter rolls his eyes but does at he says. “You know it’s okay to not be okay, right?” Peter shrugs. “Kid, I’m not going to be upset if you’re not okay. You can tell me anything.”

“This isn’t about me being sick is it?” Peter asks. 

Tony sighs, “No, it isn’t.” As the elevator doors open, Tony leads Peter into the kitchen. “I worry about you a lot, kid.” Peter frowns, sitting down on a chair at the counter. “What kind of tea do you want?”

“Chamomile,” Peter croaks. His voice sounds worse by the second, but he won’t forget what Tony just said. 

“Got it,” Tony starts to fill a kettle with water. 

“Why do you worry about me?”

Tony laughs, “Because you’re a sixteen-year-old dumbass who didn’t tell me he was sick.” Peter rolls his eyes. “But, no, you’re a kid, even if you don’t think you are. So, yeah, I worry about you pretty much non-stop.”

Peter frowns, “Why?” He asks, or he tries to ask, but all that comes out is a strained puff of air. 

Tony spins around him with a concerned frown, “You good there?” Peter shakes his head in frustration. He tries to talk again, but nothing comes out. He makes alarmed eye contact with Tony and taps on his throat. “You finally lost your voice?” Peter nods. “Told you to stop talking.” Peter huffs in annoyance and throws a small wad of paper at the back of Tony’s head. Tony spins around with an eyebrow raised as if to question if Peter had really done that. Peter nods at the paper, telling Tony to look at it. Tony rolls his eyes but bends down to pick up the ball of paper, gently unfurling it.

Written on it is: _Do you know morse code?_

“Yeah, kid. I do,” Tony gently pours a cup of tea, careful not to splash it. “Do you?” Peter nods, accepting the cup. Peter reaches one of his hands to rest on the counter, gently tapping on the counter. 

_HURTS._

Tony frowns sympathetically, “I know, Pete. Drink some more tea, it should help in a few minutes.” Peter nods and taps again. 

_SORRY._

“It’s alright, kid. You don’t need to apologize for being sick. I would take care of you no matter what.” Tony smiles and squeezes Peter’s hand. 

_WHY?_

Tony frowns, “Why what?”

_WORRY._

Tony rolls his eyes, “Back to that are we?” Peter nods. “I think this is a conversation for the couch, yeah?” Peter nods and allows Tony to lead him to the couch, curling up against Tony’s side. “Okay, so...” Tony begins, dragging a hand across his face. “Peter, I think of you as my kid. So it really scares me when you get hurt or sick or anxious and I don’t understand what’s happening or I can’t help you.” Tony wraps his arm around Peter and pulls him a bit closer, “God, kid, you make me so mushy.”

Peter grins and leans against Tony’s chest with a soft smile. 

_DAD?_

Tony nearly melt, “Yeah, kid. I think of myself like your dad.” Tony must not have gotten what Peter was trying to say because Peter taps again. 

_CALL YOU?_

“Oh, kid,” Tony says softly. “Yeah, you can call me dad.” Peter grins and closes his eyes. “You gonna fall asleep here?” Peter nods with a sly smirk. “Goodnight, Pete.”

_NIGHT, DAD._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this please leave a comment or HMU on tumblr! <3
> 
> Tumblr - @romeoandjulietyouwish


	14. Tear-stained

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too happy with this, but what can you do when you have one day

The thing Peter hates the most about himself is how much he cries. No matter what situation, he’ll probably cry. He cried when he saw a video of two puppies playing in the snow. He cried when he had to get three shots in a row. He cried when he discovered he had the ability to be Spiderman and help people. He cried after he met Tony Stark. He cried when Liz broke up with him and when Ned got him flowers to make him feel better and when MJ brought him a box of homemade cookies.

But even despite how much Peter cries, he hates crying in front of people. He hates how people look at him when he cries. They all this he’s weak, some kinda crybaby. They all call him emotional. But Peter can’t help it. May always told him that it was okay to cry, he’s never once believed her.

So you can imagine his terror when he starts to cry in the middle of the Avenger’s living room beside his childhood hero, the Black Widow. 

In Peter’s defense, he’s had a long day. He forgot his lunch, both Ned and MJ were absent, and it was freezing cold and he left his jacket at him. And on top of that, Peter had been given three days to write a fifteen-page essay on the causes of WWII. Needless to say, he's a bit stressed and has a multitude of repressed emotions. All it takes is one little push.

Once he starts researching, he feels like he’s digging himself into a hole. He can’t put the fact together and he keeps re-reading the same information without taking any in. His frustration is the tipping point. He bites his trembling to keep it still, but he can’t do anything to keep the tears in his eyes. His chest heaves, but he presses his lips closed to keep quiet. Hoping Natasha won’t notice, Peter rests his forehead on his knees, hiding his face from the rest of the room. But his soft sniffles and hiccups give him away. 

“Peter?” Natasha asks. She stands up from where she was sitting and crouches on the floor beside where Peter sits. “Are you alright?”

He nods, “Yeah, I’m fine. Just stressed and...and frustrated. You can...go back to your...your book.” 

“Are you crying?” Peter hates how soft and concerned her voice sounds. This isn’t the Natasha he knows. 

“Yeah,” Peter sniffs, there’s no point in lying. “It happens...happens sometimes. I’m okay...I’m okay though. You don’t need-need to worry.”

Natasha frowns and sits next to Peter on the couch, rubbing his back, “You’re crying in the living room, I’m going to worry about you.” She adjusts her position so that Peter is leaning against her shoulder, his face still hidden. “What are you stressed out about?” 

“Life. School project,” Peter’s voice quivers. His cheeks are wet from tears, he doesn’t even want to think about the project. 

Natasha leans over him and looks at his computer, “World War II?” She snorts, “You know we have two resident experts on that, right?”

Peter looks up at her with watery eyes, “Yeah?” Peter can see Natasha’s face become more caring and gentle as she sees his tear-stained face. He doesn’t like seeing how different she is around him crying, but he knows it’s coming from a place of love. 

She smiles at him, “You’re really tired aren’t you?” Peter nods, mopping up his tears with his sleeves. “I’m talking about Steve and Bucky. Both of whom would love to help you with your project.”

“They would?” Peter asks hesitantly. “Are you sure they’re not to busy?”

“Of course. They're two old men who have nothing better to do than talk,” Natasha and Peter share a laugh. “Are you up to work on it now? Do you want some food first or take a nap?”

Peter shakes his head, “No-no it’s due in three days.” He doesn’t want Natasha to think he’s weak. Just because he’s crying doesn’t mean he can’t get shit done.

As Natasha calls for the two men to join them, Peter wraps his arms around her waist and gives her a tight hug, “Thank you, Nat.” She grins and wraps her arms around him. 

“Of course.” When Peter lets her go, she asks, “Are you alright?”

He nods, “Yeah. I’m just really emotional and I cry a lot.” 

Natasha laughs, “I get it You should have see Clint when he watched Marley and Me, he almost flooded the apartment.” Peter snorts. 

“Here come the old men,” Natasha teases as Steve and Bucky walk into the room. She climbs off the couch and goes back to where she was reading a book previously, squeezing Peter’s shoulder. Peter moves his legs to make room for Steve and Bucky on the couch. 

“Heard you need our help,” Steve says with a smirk. “Causes of World War II?” Peter nods. “Good thing you are living with two of the best primary sources you’ll ever meet.”

Bucky rolls his eyes, “You’re giving yourself too much credit, punk.” Steve laughs and gently shoves Bucky’s shoulder. Peter smiles, already beginning to feel better. As Steve and Bucky begin to explain the war, Peter pulls his laptop into his lap and types. The longer they talk, the more Peter sags against Steve’s chest. Steve smiles and simply moves his arm to allow Peter to lay against him.

Something Peter learns quickly is that it’s so much easier having someone explain facts to you than to try to put them together yourself. But what he loves about Steve and Bucky is that he can stop them at any point and ask them to reword something or explain something he doesn’t quite understand. And they will. You can’t do that on a website.

By the end of two hours, Peter gives them both big long hugs, his eyes brimming with grateful tears, thanking them over and over again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this please comment or hmu to tumblr! Love to all y'all
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	15. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: blood, hospital

It all begins when Tony hears Morgan scream loudly from outside. He is on his feet in an instant, running out of the house to his daughter. His feet thud around the hard ground as he runs to where Peter and Morgan had been playing just 10 minutes prior. There he sees Morgan and Peter sitting on the ground Morgan with a large cut on her left leg that runs from the bottom her knee all the way to her ankle. Dark red blood pours out of the deep cut and onto the soft green grass. His heart stops in his chest.

Morgan clings to Peter’s arm sobbing quietly while Peter tries to comfort her. Peter has tears spilling down his cheeks too, his face filled with guilt and fear. He looks up when Tony calls out to Morgan. 

“Morgan!” Tony throws himself to the ground beside his daughter. His fingers are already tapping on his phone, commanding FRIDAY to call 911. 

“Daddy,” Morgan whimpers, reaching for him. He moves close enough to take her from Peter, wrapping his arms around her shoulder and letting her cling to him. He doesn’t even care if he gets blood on his clothes, his daughter needs him. Peter tries to wipe away his tears, but they won’t stop flowing. And Tony wants to comfort him too, but his daughter needs him more. “Help will be here soon, baby.” Just as he finishes that, an ambulance with sirens blaring pulls into the driveway. Two people jump out, dragging a stretcher behind them to them. 

The medics ask Tony a bunch of questions, but he is too overwhelmed to answer them. They lift Morgan on the stretcher. She cries and screams and tries pushing them away to reach for Tony, but the medics know how to keep crying children on the stretcher. 

Pepper, alerted by the sirens, bolts out of the house and up to Peter. Tony runs after Morgan, hopping in the ambulance beside her.

“Daddy!” Morgan cries, reaching her hands towards him. 

Tony grabs her small hand, “I’m right here, Mo. I’m not going anywhere.” Before the ambulance doors close behind them, Tony gets one last look of Peter and Pepper holding tight to each other on the hill. 

As the ambulance pulls away, Peter sinks to the ground. “It’s my fault,” he sobs. “It’s my fault she got hurt.” 

Pepper shakes her head, kneeling beside him, “Of course it’s not.”

Peter nods, “Yeah it is. I was...I was swinging with her and I...I didn’t notice my grip wasn’t tight...wasn’t tight on-on her.” Peter hiccups. “She fell out of my arms-arms and she cut her leg on a rock.” Peter sobs, “I should have caught her. I’m so sorry, Pepper.”

Pepper frowns and pulls the crying child into her arms, “Shh...it’s alright. I’m not upset with you.” She hugs him tighter, “What do you say we meet Morgan and Tony at the hospital?” 

Peter shakes his head, “Go without me.”

“Peter?”

“I don’t deserve-”

“Peter Parker you stop that right now,” Pepper commands. “She’s your sister and I know you love her so we are going to get in that car and drive to the hospital to see her, got it?”

Peter nods weakly, he has never opposed Pepper and now is not the time to start. So he lets her pull him to his feet and walk them quickly to the car. Peter doesn’t know how long the car ride takes or anything that happened on the way there, but he does know that Pepper’s hand never leaves his. 

Pepper signs them in at the hospital and they are directed to the waiting room, where Tony already sits. Pepper gently guides Peter with her hand around his shoulders. Tony jumps to his feet when he sees them. He hugs Pepper first and Peter sinks into a cushy chair nearby. Guilt swirls endlessly in Peter’s mind, he sees Morgan fall over and over again, her piercing scream echoing in his ears. 

“Hey, Pete,” Peter looks up to see Tony kneeling in front of him, a hand on his knee. “How are you doing?”

He shakes his head minutly, “I’m sorry,” he whispers. 

“Why?” Tony frowns as Pepper sits beside him and rubs his back. “It wasn’t your fault. Pepper and I don’t blame you in the slightest. It was an accident.”

Peter nods, his eyes already watering, “Is she okay?”

“Yeah, she’s going to be just fine,” Tony says with a relieved smile. “They’re going to give her some stitches.”

“Can we see her?” Pepper asks. 

Tony nods, “When the nurse comes to get us.”

Tony gently lowers himself into the chair beside Peter, pulling him close enough that Peter can lay his head on his shoulder. Pepper and Tony quietly converse above him while Peter closes his eyes and lets his mind go blank. Deep down he knows he deserves to see Morgan fall and hear her scream and see her blood on the grass. He deserves to feel as much pain as his little sister. But he can’t bear it anymore. 

“Stark?” A nurse with a kind face asks. Tony jumps to his feet, Pepper close behind, but Peter remains seated. “She’s ready for visitors. Family only, okay?” Tony nods. He reaches down and tugs on Peter’s arm, but he won’t budge. 

“Peter, come on,” Tony says calmly. “We can go see Morgan.”

“I’m not fa-”

“If you say you’re not family,” Pepper says, “I will throttle you so help me God.”

Tony snorts, “Come on, Pete.”

The three of them walk side by side until the nurse stops them at a door, “She’s in here. Call if you need anything.”

Tony nods and pushes in the door, Peter and Pepper following behind him. On the bed, Morgan sits with thick bandages on her leg. But she’s smiling as she spoons a chunk of red jello into her mouth.

“Hey, Mo,” Tony says as he pulls up a chair to her bedside. 

“Hi!” She grins. Her mom takes a seat beside Tony, leaving no chair for Peter. When Morgan sees Peter’s discomfort she smiles at him and pats the bed next to here, “Petey! Sit next to me,” she demands, so much like her mother. 

Peter gingerly sits down beside her, “How are you feeling?”

Mogan grins at him, “Great! The nurse said I’d have a really cool scar!”

Peter smiles at her enthusasiam, “Yeah, you will.”

“I’ll be like Scar from the Lion King!”

“Exactly.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you enjoyed this please comment or hmu on tumblr! Have a great day/night!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	16. Held Down (Pt 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: gunshot wound, blood, medical procedures without anesthesia.

Tony and Steve were having a pretty chill night. All the other Avengers are visiting family or out of town, except for the two of them and Bruce who decided not to join them for movie night. They’re watching some shitty rom-com and munching on bowls of popcorn and chips, but Tony can’t stop himself from checking his phone over and over again. You see, Peter’s on patrol right now, his first one since May died and Tony can’t help being an overprotective parent. 

As he checks his phone for the hundredth time that minute, Steve rolls his eyes, “He’s fine, Tony. Give me your phone.” When Tony gives him an astonished look Steve adds, “I’m not turning your ringer off, I’m just making sure you don’t drive yourself insane.” Begrudgingly, Tony hands over his phone.

“I’m just worried,” Tony says, taking a handful of popcorn. 

Steve nods, “I get it, Tony. He’s your kid, but at some point, you have to let him fly.”

Tony snorts and throws a piece of popcorn at him, “Are you making a ‘leave the nest’ metaphor right now?”

“I might be.” They share a small laugh, turning their attention back to the movie, Tony occasionally throwing pieces of popcorn at Steve to see if he can land one on the top of his head.

But not even ten minutes later, Tony’s phone starts blaring Peter’s ringtone. Of course, it’s the Imperial March. Steve quickly tosses Tony his phone, just as concerned about Peter as Tony. Since Peter moved in, the entire team has come to treat Peter as family. 

“Pete, everything okay?” Tony asks immediately, worry lies appearing all over his face. 

Ragged breathing comes on the other end before, “Tony?”

“I’m here kid,” Steve is already pulling up Peter’s location on his phone, sending it to Tony. “What’s going on?”

“I think I got shot.”

“You think?” Tony’s voice is near hysterical. “I’m on my way, be there as soon as possible. Stay on the line and don’t move. Got it?”

“Yeah-yeah, I got it,” Peter sounds short of breath.

Without a word to Steve, Tony runs as fast as he can out of the room as his suit forms around him.

It takes all to long in Tony's opinion to get to Peter's location. He puts all the energy to the thrusters, but it’s still not fast enough for him. When he finds him, Peter is laying flat on his back on a roof, looking up at the stars. Blood covers his torso, erupting from a large gunshot wound on his stomach, staining his suit.

"Peter!" Tony gasps.

"Tony," Peter moans, sounding more awake then Tony was expecting. “It hurts.”

“I know, kid,” Tony says, kneeling down beside him, “But right now I need you to stay awake, yeah?” Peter gives him a weak nod. “Okay, I’m going to lift you now.” Tony can see Peter ready himself for the pain moving will cause, tension riddles his shoulders. Tony gently scoops an arm under his legs and another one behind his shoulder. Peter’s breathing heavy as he tries to keep in any cries of pain. Tony hates every second of, but he’s glad Peter still has his mask on. 

Tony flies as fast as he can back to the tower. He sends a message to Bruce and Steve, telling them to be ready in the medbay. And all the while he talks to Peter, reassuring him that he’s alright and that he’s going to be okay. Whether the words are true or not, Tony doesn’t know. 

Peter makes small whimpers as the jerkiness of the flight. Tony tries his best to keep the boy steady, but it’s not working with how fast he’s going. But he can’t go any slower, his child is bleeding out in his arms.

When they finally arrive in the medbay, Bruce and Steve already have a bed waiting. But even when Tony lays Peter down, the boy refuses to let go of his hand. Bruce and Steve cut away the suit as fast as possible and clean the wound of blood.

Peter squeezes Tony’s hand tightly, his eyes squeezed shut as Bruce inspects his wound. After a few seconds, Bruce says, “We have a problem.” Tony’s heart stops. Bruce continues, “He’s already starting to heal over the bullet. We need to get it out as soon as possible.”

“Okay,” Tony says, putting on a calm facade. “So well knock him out-”

“We can’t,” Bruce says remorsefully. “In the time it will take to get him under, he may heal over it completely.”

“Shit,” Steve says, running a hand over his face. 

Tony looks down at Peter’s terrified face, eyes filled to the brim with unshed tears, looking more like a child than Tony’s ever seen. “I know, Pete. I know.” Tony says softly. “But there’s no other way.”

Bruce turns to Steve, “I need you to hold him down. It’s going to hurt like a bitch and I don’t want Peter to flail around too much and hurt himself.” Steve nods, but he looks sick to his stomach at the thought. “Peter?” Peter looks up at Bruce. “We’re going to need to tie down your legs okay? I don’t want you to accidentally kick me.” Peter nods, a soft whimper escaping his lips. 

As Bruce does that, Tony gets ready to help Peter as best he can, he puts on his gauntlet and returns his hand to Peter’s. He can’t risk Peter breaking the bones in his hand. Peter looks at him eyes wide with fear, “It’s going to be alright, Pete,” Tony promises. “It’s going to hurt for a while, but then it will all be over and you’re going to be okay.” Peter nods, believing Tony’s every word.

“I’m scared,” he whispers.

“I know,” Tony says sadly. “I know, but this is the only way.”

Before Peter can respond, Steve and Bruce are ready to go. Steve hands Peter a washcloth, folded neatly, “Bite down on this so you don’t break your teeth.” Peter puts it in his mouth and closes his eyes tightly, tears already wetting his cheeks.

“Okay,” Bruce says. “Here we go.” Steve places his hands on Peter’s shoulders, gently pushing the boy back into the cushion. And it’s worse than Tony expected. Peter’s screams are muffled by the cloth in his mouth. His back arches off the bed, Steve shoves him down, holding him tight against the bed. Peter’s skin is coated with sweat in seconds and his cheeks are flooded with painful tears. He pushes against Steve’s hands with all his strength, sobs wracking his body. Peter’s grip on Tony’s hand is vicelike. If he hadn’t been wearing the gauntlet, his hand would have been broken several times over.

Tony can see how hard this is for Steve, not just that it’s hard physically for him to keep Peter still. Every time Peter bucks against Steve’s hands he wants to let go and pull him into a tight hug and keep him safe. He hates the feeling of Peter thrashing under him, knowing how much pain he’s in and that he’s powerless to stop it. Steve knows how tight he’s holding him must be hurting Peter, but he can’t let him up even slightly.

It lasts two full minutes before Bruce finally pulls the bullet out. 

Peter sags against the bed breathing heavily. Steve stumbles back slightly, his face pale, “I’m sorry, Peter,” is all he says before running out of the room. Peter’s eyes follow him and a soft frown crosses his face. Tony quickly stands and is at Peter’s side, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes. 

Peter takes a deep breath through his nose and pulls the rag from his mouth, “Steve?”

“He’s alright,” Tony says. “That was just very difficult for all of us.” Tony caresses Peter’s cheek, “You’re so strong, kid.” Peter smiles softly.

“Can I sleep now?” Peter asks, almost like a child. Tony looks to Bruce for confirmation before nodding. Tony pulls up a chair and sits down beside Peter. “You’ll be here when I wake up?”

Tony smile, “I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”

“Steve?”

“Do you want him here?” Tony asks gently. Peter nods. He sighs, “I don’t know, Pete.”

Peter nods in acceptance, into letting too much of his disappointment show. Bruce flicks off the lights as he leaves, plunging the two into darkness. The last thing Peter hears before he falls asleep is Tony’s quiet wish of sweet dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	17. "Stay With Me" (Pt 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: panic attack

It takes two hours for Tony to fall asleep at Peter's bedside. He has to reassure himself over and over again that Peter's okay now, that's he's safe. Steve doesn’t come in once, but Tony is hoping to get him in here before Peter wakes up. Peter’s chest rises and falls evenly with each breath. The thick bandages around his stomach are hidden from Tony’s view by a thick pile of blankets that lay on top of him. 

When Tony finally falls asleep, he leans forward and rests his head on Peter’s bed. It’s not the most comfortable position, but he’s tired enough that it doesn’t even matter. Tony’s soft snores fill the white hospital room. 

Elsewhere in the tower, Steve is having a much more sleepless night that the other two. He sits awake in his room, leaning against the wall. He changed into pajamas, but he never made it all the way to bed. He became overcome with emotion so much that he just sank to the ground where he was. He hurt Peter. That’s all he can think about. How Peter’s screams were muffled by a thick cloth in his mouth, but it wasn’t enough to stop the sound completely. Peter’s eyes had been so bloodshot he was worried about them actually bleeding. And the entire time Steve held him down he never stopped fighting him and sobbing. 

That was the worst part of it. 

How was Peter ever going to look at him the same again? He had had such a good relationship with the boy. He trained him every other day and every Friday night Peter would watch a new movie with him. Peter claimed it was to catch him up on all the pop culture he had missed, but both Tony and Steve suspect it was just to spend time together. Not that Steve minded in the slightest. 

But now that’s over. He hurt Peter and Peter’ll never want to see him again. 

Steve curls into the smallest ball he can, his head pressed tightly against his knees. He can feel the rapid motion his chest makes as he breathes, but he can’t bring himself to care. He’s probably breathing too fast, but Peter almost just died. So it’s hard to care about himself right now. 

“Captain Rogers?” FRIDAY asks. “According to my protocols if any Avenger exhibits signs of a panic attack I must alert the closest person. Boss is on his way.”

“Shit,” Steve swears through his stuttering breath. Not Tony. He’s okay. He doesn’t need Tony to come save him, especially not after he hurt his son. Steve does his best to pick himself up before Tony gets there. He tips his head back against the wall and takes a shallow breath. He wants to stand up, but he knows his legs won’t support him.

“Steve?” Tony’s voice is hesitant in the doorway. Steve refuses to look at him until Tony crouches down in front of him. “Steve?” He asks again. “Can you hear me?” Steve gives him a slight nod. “Are you okay?”

“Y-Yeah,” Steve whispers. “Peter needs you. You should stay with him.”

Tony shakes his head and squeezes Steve’s arm, “He’s asleep right now. So it looks like you need me more than him right now.”

“I’m fine, Tony,” Steve says and it’s true. His breathing is slower now, more relaxed. “Your kid needs you.”

“Steve-”

“Just leave, Tony,” Steve is too worn out for this. 

“Tell me what’s wrong,” Tony counters. His voice is strong and certain, unlike Steve’s.

Steve shakes his head, “You know what’s wrong.”

“Peter?” Tony asks. Steve nods. “He’s alright, Steve. He’s not hurt anymore.”

“I hurt him,” Steve whispers. “He held him too tight and-”

“Peter is just fine,” Tony’s calm voice interrupts. “Do you want to go see him?” When Steve looks hesitant Tony says, “I really think it will help.” Steve reluctantly nods and Tony helps him to his feet. The two men walk in silence back up to the medbay. Steve can see Tony checking on him out of the corner os his eyes every few seconds.

Tony gently opens the door to reveal Peter sleeping soundly inside. Tony presses a hand against Steve’s back to guide him into the room. Steve walks as if in a daze towards the bed. And true to Tony’s words, Peter seems to be okay. His chest is rising and falling gently and his eyes are closed peacefully. 

“He’s okay,” Steve breathes softly. 

Tony comes next to him and smiles softly, “I told you so.” Tony lowers himself back into his chair, looking at Peter with parental affection. 

“I should go,” Steve says after a moment of watching Tony. 

Tony looks up at him like he’s the dumbest person on the planet, “Why? Peter wanted you to be here when he woke up.”

“He-he did?” Steve allows the smallest amount of hope to enter his heart. Maybe Peter won’t hate him. 

Tony smiles, “Stay with me until he wakes up?” Steve nods slowly and takes a seat in the other chair. 

Neither of them falls asleep for the rest of the night, content in each other’s company. When Peter wakes up several hours later, he blinks sleepily at Tony before his gaze shifts to Steve. A sleepy smile spreads across his face. 

“You’re here,” Peter whispers. 

Steve reaches out and squeezes his hand, “Yeah, I’m here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading this! Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	18. Muffled Scream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: swearing

This isn’t right. Peter doesn’t fight. Not with anyone. Especially not Harley. But here they are, looking right in each other’s eyes and shouting.

“Relationships take effort!” Harley shouts, his face is full of nothing but anger. The love that usually fills his eyes when he looks at Peter is gone.

“You don’t think I know that!” Peter counters just and loudly, stepping towards Harley.

“You’re never here anymore, Peter!” Harley screams. Peter can see how truly hurt he his by this. He tugs on his hair. “I feel like I don’t know you anymore!”

“I’m right here!” Peter takes a step closer to Harley, spreading his arms wide. “I’m right here! Talk to me!” Peter grabs Harley’s hands and pulls them to his chest. Both boys are breathing heavily now. 

Harley yanks his arms out of Peter’s grasp and takes a few steps back, “You don’t understand a fucking thing, Peter,” Harley growls. He takes three quick steps towards Peter who cowers, “Get the hell out.”

“Harley-”

“Now.”

Peter’s heart sinks to the bottom of his stomach. It’s over. Peter covers his mouth to hide his sob and runs out of Harley’s apartment, only pausing slightly to grab his jacket. The second the door slams behind him, Peter starts to run down the stairs, tears cascading down his cheeks. His hands are shaking and he can’t stop crying. Once he is on the street, he flips up the collar on his coat and ducks his head, walking as quickly as possible to the tower, only a few blocks away. 

He cries to himself, Harley’s going to break up with him. This is it. They’re over. The love of Peter’s life hates him. He fucked up. He really did. Harley’s voice was so angry like Peter’s never heard before. Does Harley love him anymore? _Of course not._ Peter tells himself. _Of course he fucking doesn’t. Not after that._

“Peter?” Tony asks as Peter drags his feet into the tower. 

“I don’t want to talk about it,” Peter moans. He blows past Tony and runs to his room, shutting and locking the door behind him, he did his best to hide his face from Tony but he doubts it worked that well. He throws himself down on the bed, shoves his face into a pillow and screams. He screams and screams until his voice is overcome by sobs that send tremors throughout his whole body. His pillow is soaked.

Harley hates him. 

“Peter?” Tony knocks fervently on the door. “Peter are you okay?”

“Leave me alone!” Peter shouts. He immediately feels bad. He’s not mad at Tony, or Harley for that matter. He has no one to be mad at but himself. Tony doesn’t say anything. Peter’s phone buzzes loudly with a text. Peter doesn’t even have to look at it to know it is Harley. He doesn’t check it. His phone buzzes three more times before it begins to ring. 

Peter groans and reaches for his phone. Of course, it’s Harley. He dismisses the phone call, he can’t even stand to look at Harley’s smiling profile picture. 

Tony knocks on the door again, “Kid, please let me in. Harley texted me. He said you guys had a fight or something? Pete, please talk to me.”

“FRIDAY, unlock the door,” Peter whispers. FRIDAY must do it because a few seconds later his door creaks open and Tony is lowering himself onto the bed beside him. Tony’s hands find their way into Peter’s hair. 

“Tell me what happened,” Tony says diplomatically. 

Peter sniffs, “We-we fought about Spider-spiderman and-and he said that I wasn’t putting-putting in enough effort,” he says softly. “He told me to get out. He’s never going to want to see me again,” Peter says sadly, his voice just as heartbroken as he is. 

Tony wastes no time in hauling Peter up and into his arms. Peter clings tightly to Tony, sobbing into his shirt. “Shh...” Tony whispers. “He doesn’t hate you.”

“Yeah, he does,” Peter moans. 

“No, he doesn’t,” Tony counters, returning to winding his fingers through Peter’s hair in a comforting motion. “That boy loves you more than anything. He is worried out of his mind right now, Pete. He had no idea if you made it here safe or if you even came back home. Peter, he’s just as messed up about this as you are.”

Peter shakes his head, “He told me that our relationship wasn’t working.” His chest feels tight all he needs to do is cry right now. 

“Oh, Peter,” Tony says sympathetically. He hugs Peter even tighter, pressing a soft kiss to his forehead. “I’m sure he didn’t mean it.”

“He did.”

“I didn’t,” Harley says softly. Wait. Harley? Peter’s head snaps up to see Harley standing in the doorway, his eyes are wide with fear and his hair tousled. “Oh my god, _Peter_.” Harley rushes into the room and sits down on the edge of the bed beside the two others, his gaze panicked. Peter leans into Tony and away from Harley, despite his urge to throw his arms around Harley and hug him until he falls asleep. If Harley is hurt by the gesture, he doesn’t let Peter see. Tony looks between the two boys.

Tony squeezes Peter’s shoulder, “I’ll let the two of you talk.” Tony extracts himself from under Peter and leaves the room, but not before saying to Harley, “Break his heart even more and you won’t leave this building alive, Keener.” Harley nods with a humorous smirk. 

“I don’t plan on it.” Harley responds cheekily.

Peter curls his legs to his chest and looks at Harley expectantly, he hopes he can’t see how torn up he is. But his wet cheeks and red eyes must give him away. Harley’s always been too good at reading Peter. Harley moves and inch closer, making sure to give Peter his space. 

“Peter, I am so sorry,” Harley says earnstly. “I feel terrible for yelling at you, I didn’t mean a single word of it and you didn’t deserve it.” When Peter sees that Harley doesn’t believe him, he takes his hand and squeezes. “Peter, I love you so goddamn much. I never meant to yell at you. I said some pretty horrible things to you,” Harley shakes his head and inhales sharply as if he’s holding back tears. “I need you to know how fucking sorry I am.”

Peter looks at him with wide eyes, “You’re not breaking up with me?”

Harley shakes his head, “It’ll take so much more than one stupid fight to get rid of me.” That’s all it takes for Peter to stop holding himself back and throws himself into Harley’s arms. Harley catches him with a soft, “Oof.” But Harley’s arms are just as tight around Peter. “I love you so much,” Harley whispers. 

“I’m sorry I yelled,” Peter says softly. “I’m sorry for what I said and I’m sorry I ran away.”

Harley sighs, “It’s okay, but the reason we fought still stands.” Peter pulls back slightly but doesn’t let go of Harley. “You need to make more time for our relationship.”

Peter nods, “I know.” He squeezes Harley’s hands. “I’ll do better.”

Harley smiles and leans in for a soft kiss, “I love you.”

Peter leans back into a hug, “I love you too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	19. Asphyxiation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shout out to the incredible anxiousangstyangel on tumblr for giving me a prompt for this!

Morgan’s parents are out of town for the weekend so Peter offered to watch her for the weekend. It wasn’t a big deal, he’d taken care of the girl several times before. But this time was different because this time the Stark family was spending the summer in California instead of New York. So Tony sent a private jet to take Peter to California for a long weekend.

“Hiya, Morguna!” Peter exclaims happily as he walks off the plane and to the Stark’s California house. Morgan shrieks with a wide smile and bolts away from her parents toward Peter. He crouches down just in time for Morgan to throw her little arms around his neck.

“Petey, I missed you!” Morgan shouts. 

“I missed you too,” Peter says softly. She clings tightly to her big brother as he stands up and begins to walk toward their parents. 

“Hey, kid,” Tony greets once they get close. Peter sets Morgan back on the ground to hug Tony and Pepper tightly. “We missed you out here,” Pepper kisses his temple. 

“I missed you guys too,” Peter lets himself relax into their familiar embraces. After a moment or two, he leans back, “When do you two leave?”

Pepper checks her watch, “About twenty minutes.”

Tony takes Peter’s bag from him and claps his shoulder, “Let’s get inside.”Morgan insists upon Peter carrying her inside and jumps back into his arms the second she has a chance. Peter had only been in the California house once, to help the family move in. But he hasn’t been back all summer. It’s a big place, full of large glass windows and spectacular views of the ocean. Everything is top of the line and perfectly placed. Peter used to feel out of place in homes like this and he still does. But there’s something about it that just makes Peter feel that he’s at home.

Tony dumps Peter’s bag by the elevator doors and gives him a soft smile. While Pepper and Morgan go into Morgan’s room to get her changed into pajamas, Tony sits Peter down on the couch. “How have you been?”

Peter shrugs, “I’m fine, a bit lonely.”

“Lonely?” Tony’s parental concern warms Peter’s heart. 

“Yeah, May’s been out with Happy a lot and you guys are out here, Ned’s at a science camp until next month and MJ is really busy too.”

Tony frowns and rubs Peter’s arm, “I’m sorry, bub. You can stay with us for a while longer, huh? Get some sun?”

Peter shakes his head, “It’s okay. I’ll just stay until Monday. I’m working on a bunch of projects to keep me occupied.” Tony frowns again, but Peter doesn’t let this conversation continue, “Do you have any rules for me to follow with Morgan?”

Tony claps his hands together, “Okay. The little miss managed to convince Pepper and me that she should have a different bedtime for summer so new bedtime is at 8:30. But she usually passed out around 7:00.” Peter nods. “Other than that, you already know. Don’t give her sugar after 8:00, keep her alive, etc, etc.”

Peter nods, “Okay.”

Tony looks like he wants to say something further but he is interrupted by Morgan running and jumping into Peter’s arms. Pepper follows behind her with an affectionate smile. “A number is on the fridge for the closest pizza place if that’s what you want for dinner,” Pepper says as she sits down on Peter’s other side. 

Peter scoffs, “I am capable of cooking, you know?”

“If your cooking is anything like your aunt’s, I don’t want that in my house,” Tony jokes. 

Morgan swats her dad’s arm and then hugs Peter tight, “Don’t be mean to Petey.”

Peter laughs and squeezes her tight, “You like my cooking, right Mo?”

Morgan nods enthusiastically, “Can you make that pasta you did last time?”

Peter kisses the top of her head, “Of course.”

Pepper sighs and checks her watch, “Tony, we should head out.” As the two leave they each hug the kids close and kiss the top of their heads, “We’ll be back in two days,” Pepper says sweetly. Peter holds Morgan in his arms and they wave at their parents’ car as they drive away.

After getting Morgan fed, the two of them curl up on the couch in the large living room. Morgan makes them watch her favorite Disney movie. But Peter doesn’t complain because he loves Morgan more than anything. True to Tony’s statement, Morgan is conked out on his chest at 7:00. He feels himself getting a bit sleepy as well because of the time difference between New York and California, combined with how little he slept the night before.

So he lifts Morgan into his arms, making sure her neck isn’t at an uncomfortable angle and carries her to the elevator and tells FRIDAY to take them to bed. But it’s just his luck that just as the elevator starts moving, everything begins to shake. He holds Morgan tighter to his chest and presses his back against the wall. 

“FRIDAY what’s going on?” He asks, his voice trembling. Morgan starts to wake up in his arms. 

“There seems to be an earthquake-” FRIDAY is cut off by the power going out. Morgan, now fully awake, gasps and hides her face in Peter’s neck. 

“It’s okay, Mo,” Peter says, even though the earth is still shaking and he’s just as afraid as her. 

But it’s not. Not even five seconds later the elevator starts to move. But not up. Down. Fast. Morgan screams and her grip on Peter’s neck is painfully tight. Before Peter can even think of what to do, the elevator crashes to the ground. It is only Peter’s stickiness that keeps Morgan in his arms as they tumble to the ground. It’s dark. So dark that Peter can hardly see Morgan. 

“Peter?” Morgan whimpers. 

“I’m right here, Mo,” Peter lifts her into his arms as he sits on the metal floor and presses his back against the wall. “Are you okay?” Peter feels Morgan nod against his chest. “I’m going to let go of you for a sec, okay?” Morgan nods again and allows Peter to sit her on the ground. 

He walks around the small elevator, running his hands along the walls and the doors. He doesn’t find anything. He presses the button to open the doors. Nothing. Nothing happens when he presses any button. He tries to talk to FRIDAY to no avail. He even tries to pry to doors open, but it doesn’t work. He lets out a frustrated sigh, not wanting her to know how panicked he really is. He sits back down and pulls her back into his arms.

“I’m scared,” Morgan whispers. “I want Mommy and Daddy.”

“I know,” Peter holds her closer. That’s it. Tony. He keeps one hand on Morgan and pats his pockets for his phone. He fishes it out and calls Tony. Peter breaths heavily, his heart thumping quickly in his chest. It rings only once before Tony picks up. 

“Hey, Pete!” Tony sounds like he’s smiling. “How’s the little miss?”

“Tony,” Peter gasps. He doesn’t want to sound afraid in front of Morgan, but he can’t help it. As soon as he hears Tony’s voice he wants to cry.

“Peter?” Tony’s voice is instantly more panicked. “Is everything okay?”

“No,” Peter says softly. “I was in the elevator with Morgan.” He sniffs, “There was an earthquake and the elevator fell. Tony, we’re stuck.”

“I need you to breathe, Peter,” Tony says rationally, he can sense Peter’s panic. “Morgan are you there?”

“Yeah,” Morgan says quietly. 

“I need you to do something for me, sweetheart.”

“Okay.”

“I need you to give your brother a tight hug and don’t let go, okay?” Morgan nods and wraps her arms around Peter’s chest and squeezes. She doesn’t know it, but she’s providing comfort and pressure against his chest so he can regulate his breathing. Peter is able to press against her arms and take three long breaths before Tony talks again. “Pete, can you talk to me?”

“Yeah,” Peter says softly. 

“Okay, the elevator you’re in is airtight,” Tony sighs, “it was supposed to keep gases out, but now it means that you only have so much air okay?”

“Tony?” Peter’s voice is shaking and he no longer cares about how Morgan sees him. 

“It’s going to be okay,” Tony says. “We’re turning around right now and Rhodey’s only an hour away. You two need to stay calm and still until someone can come get you. Talk as little as possible.” Peter nods. “I love you both very very much.” And those sound too much like final words for Peter’s taste as if Tony is uncertain whether he’ll see them again or not. It does nothing to ease Peter’s nerves. “We’re getting back in the plane now so I can’t stay on call with you. Rhodey will be there in less than an hour.”

Then Pepper’s voice comes through the speaker, “Peter, Morgan? Stay safe and I love you. We’ll see you soon.”

Peter wants to reply, but he knows he shouldn’t. So instead he reaches out and taps on the receiver in morse code. 

I LOVE YOU.

“We love you too,” Tony says and hangs up. 

As Peter’s phone screen turns black, Morgan looks up at him with terrified eyes. He presses a finger to his lips and holds her closer. She lays her head back down on Peter’s chest. Peter can feel her soft breaths against his skin and he can hear her strong heartbeat. He tried to breathe as shallowly as possible but his lungs scream for more air. 

It takes ten minutes for him to get a headache and to feel dizzy, he can tell Morgan is feeling the same because she squeezes her eyes shut tightly. In another ten minutes, Morgan’s grip on him loosens. She’s getting weaker. Peter holds her tighter. 

Peter is terrified. 

He feels like he’s going to pass out, Morgan’s skin is cold against his, and her heartbeat is no longer as steady as it was. Peter tries to breathe as little as possible to give Morgan more air. But all too quickly, he’s struggling to keep his eyes open. Morgan is passed out on his chest and he’s not far behind. 

A few minutes later, he slowly blinks his eyes as a terrible metal screeching sound comes from above him. Peter looks up, blinking heavily. Just before he succumbs to unconsciousness, he sees the silver mask of War Machine looking down on him.

Peter wakes up to light surrounding him. He deliriously blinks his eyes open to see bright florescent lights above him. Something is pressed against his nose and mouth, forcing air into his lung. An annoying beeping fills the room. 

“Peter,” Tony says from beside him, “can you hear me?” Peter tips his head to the side to see Tony sitting beside his bed holding one of his hands. He smiles softly when he meets Peter’s eyes “Hey, bub. How are you feeling?”

“M-Morgan?” Peter stutters around the breathing mask. 

Tony squeezes his hand, “She’s okay. Pepper’s with her in the other room. She woke up two hours ago.” He sighs, “You both gave us quite the scare.”

“Sorry,” Peter mummers. 

Tony smiles, “It’s alright. We’re glad you both are okay.” Peter nods a little. “Thank you for protecting her.” Peter frowns. He didn’t protect her, he let her get hurt. He let her almost die. Tony, seeing Peter’s confusion, says, “She said you held your breath.” Peter looks down. “And as much as I want to be mad at you for that, you saved my little girl, Pete.” Tony’s eyes are full of tears. “Thank you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed this!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	20. Trembling

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: light mention of past sexual assault, flashback

Peter Stark had never met his grandparents. It was hard to imagine Tony’s parents as his grandparents, no matter how many times Tony had reassured him over and over that they were. And he had heard too many stories about how awful Howard Stark was that he never even wanted to be in the same room as him. But after Peter’s adoption, Tony’s parents had reached out to him and asked to meet him. Peter was understandably nervous because of his dad’s shaky relationship with his parents. But Tony thought it would be a good idea. So here they are, Tony and Peter Stark, waiting for Howard and Maria. 

“You nervous?” Tony asks as he brushes some lint off of Peter’s shoulder. Peter nods and Tony gives him an affectionate smile, “It’ll be okay. They’ll love you.”

Peter looks up at his dad, “What do I call them?”

Tony sighs, “I don’t know, Pete. When I was little I called my grandma Nonna.”

“Nonna?”

He nods, “Yeah, she was Italian. I’m sure mom will love it if you call her that.” Tony smiles and squeezes Peter’s shoulder. “As for dad, he’ll tell you what to call him.” Tony, still seeing how nervous Peter is, pulls him into a tight hug. “It’s going to be fine, Peter.” He kisses the top of Peter’s head. 

“Dad?” Peter asks softly. Tony pulls back from the hug enough to see Peter’s face. “What if they don’t like me?”

Tony smiles, “It’s impossible not to like you kid.” Peter frowns, he clearly doesn’t trust his dad’s words.

“Boss, they’re here,” FRIDAY interrupts. 

Peter freezes, but Tony just smiles at him and squeezes his arm, “Come on, Pete.”

Tony gently leads his son out of the living room and to the elevators. He keeps his arm around Peter’s shoulders as they wait for the elevator to bring his grandparents to them. Peter presses his hands against his legs to still their shaking. He takes a deep breath.

The elevator bell dings and then the doors open. Howard and Maria Stark stand behind them, Maria with a wide smile and Howard with a stoic frown. Peter gulps and shrinks back into Tony’s arms. 

Maria approaches them first, moving to give Tony a tight hug, “I missed you, caro.”

Tony smiles, letting go of Peter to hug his mother, “Hi, mom.” 

Maria kisses his cheeks before turning to Peter with a soft smile, “You must be Peter.” Peter nods shyly. Maria gently brings Peter into a hug, “It’s wonderful to finally meet you, tesoro.” Peter instantly loves her. Her hug is strong and supportive while also feeling protective and comforting. 

“You too, Nonna,” Peter says softly. Maria must hear him because she pulls back enough to look in his eyes before hugging him even tighter. 

She kisses his cheeks before turning to Howard and saying, “Your turn.”

Howard lets out a displeased noise before extending his hand to Tony, “Anthony.”

“Dad.” Tony shakes Howard’s hand stiffly. Peter gently presses himself back into his dad’s side. Tony wraps his arm back around Peter as Howard turns to the boy. “Dad, this is my son, Peter.”

Howard extends his hand to Peter who shakes it, “You can call me Howard.” Peter does not like Howard. Howard gives Peter a nods of approval, “You have a good handshake.”

“Thank you,” Peter says.

Maria, bless her, interrupts the conversation, “Can you give us a tour of the building, Anthony?”

Tony smiles at his mother, “Sure, mom.”

Howard scoffs, “I don’t need a tour of my own building.”

Tony tightens his arm around Peter, “It’s not your building anymore.” He looks down at Peter to check on him before saying, “Let’s get on with the tour.” Tony leads the family back into the elevator and tells FRIDAY to take them down to the labs.

“How have you both been?” Maria asks. 

Tony nudges Peter’s shoulder, indicating he should answer. He takes a slow breath before saying, “Good. Um, dad and I have been working in the lab together a lot and we cook together. I haven’t been at school these past few days so-”

Howard interrupts him stiffly, “Why aren’t you in school?” 

Peter shifts nervously, eyes flashing up to meet his dad’s, “I, um...”

Tony thankfully helps him out, “He’s been dealing with some mental health issues recently so I decided to pull him out of school for a few days until he’s feeling better.” Peter looks at his shoes, tugging anxiously on his sleeves. 

“That’s no excuse to miss school,” Howard says coldly. Peter moves a little closer to his dad. “He should be going to school every day and pretending to have some issue-”

“Dad,” Tony says sharply, “I am raising my son how I see fit. I didn’t invite you here to critique my parenting.” The elevator stops. “We’re here.” Tony leads the way out of the elevator and into the workshop, Peter following close behind, Maria and Howard trailing behind. As Tony tells them a bit about what they’ve been doing, Maria looks at drawing and schematics they have on the screens. 

Maria smiles, “This is very impressive, cucciolo.” Tony rolls his eyes at the nickname. “Peter, can I see some of your work?”

“Uh,” Peter looks to his dad for confirmation, “sure.” He leads her over to his desk and begins to explain his work with Spiderman and how he is currently working on making his own AI.

Maria grins at him, “I don’t think even your dad was working on things this complicated at your age.” Peter blushes, but whether it’s at the compliment or Maria calling Tony his dad, he doesn’t know. She ruffles his hair, “You’re a regular little Einstien.”

Peter’s breathing stutters instantly. _Hey, Einstein. Ready to play a game?_

“Dad?” Peter whispers, he fights to keep his voice even. His breathing isn’t right. He’s nine years old again. He’s in his bedroom. Someone’s hands are touching him. He wants them off. Off. There are too many hands and it hurts so much. He knows he’s sobbing and screaming and crying, but he can’t hear it. 

All he can hear is the same voice repeating the same nickname over and over and over. _Einstein. Einstein. Einstein. Einstein. Einstein._

The hands go away and something is being pressed into his palm. It’s cold and watery. Peter frowns. What? He squeezes the object. It’s hard and cold. A menacing voice echoes in his mind. But then another voice comes. Someone closer. “-cus on the ice, Peter. It’s cold, right? Think about it being cold. It’s 2019. You’re in our lab. No one here wants to hurt you. It’s just you and me now. It’s 2019.” Peter nods. That sounds right. He trusts this voice. It’s comforting. The voice guides him through vaguely familar breathing exercises. After a few minutes, Peter’s breathing slows and the voice says, “You’re doing so well, Peter. Can you open your eyes for me?”

He hadn’t even realized his eyes were closed. He slowly opens them, eyes scanning the room in search of that horrifyingly familiar face. But all he sees is his dad in front of him, eyes soft with concern. “You back with me?” Peter nods. He lets the ice cube drop between his fingers, wiping his wet hand on his pants. His cheeks are wet and his eyes hurt. Peter puts his face in his hands and does his best to wipe away the tears.

“I’m sorry,” Peter says softly, his voice hurts to talk. He’d been yelling.

“You don’t need to apologize,” Tony says. “Can I give you a hug?” Peter nods. Tony slowly scoops him into a tight hug. Peter sniffs, his chest stutters with a sob. “You’re still shaking,” Tony remarks. Tony sighs, “He’s never going to be able to hurt you again,” Tony whispers. He drags his fingers through Peter’s hair in what he knows is a comforting motion. “I’m so sorry, Peter. I didn’t warn them-”

“You should have to,” Peter mumbles dejectedly. “I should be getting better. I should be having these anymore.”

Tony takes Peter’s face between his hands, forcing the boy to look up at him, “Don’t say that, Peter. You are doing so much better. It didn’t take me nearly as long to get you back. It’s progress, Pete.”

Peter shakes his head, “Not enough.”

“As long as it takes, I will be right here,” Tony brushes Peter’s hair out of his eyes. 

Peter pauses before asking softly, “Nonna?” 

“I told them to go upstairs and wait for us,” Tony explains. “We can go up when you’re ready.”

Peter nods, “I want to see them.” Then he pauses and rephrases. “I want to see Nonna.” 

Tony sighs, “I get it, Pete. Dad can kind of be an ass, but he’s worried about you too.” Peter gives him a disbelieving look. “It’s not for the right reasons, but he does care.”

“Do we have to tell them what happened?” Peter asks shyly. 

Tony shakes his head, “No, bambino. I know you don’t want that. I’ll tell them you had a panic attack. It’s close enough to the truth.” Tony stands up and extends a hand down to Peter, “Ready?” Peter takes the hand and is pulled to his feet. As they ride the elevator up, Tony keeps his arm around Peter. 

In the living room, Maria is anxiously pacing the floor, biting at her thumbnail. Howard is lounged on the couch, the only sign of stress is his slight frown. Tony coughs to alert them to his presence. Maria whirls around, exhaling a soft sigh in relief at the sight of her son and grandson. 

“Are you alright, tesoro?” Maria asks gently and she walks slowly towards the pair. 

Peter nods, “I’m okay.”

“Can I give you a hug?” Maria asks. Peter nods and Maria wraps him and in a soft hug. “I’m sorry, Peter.”

“It’s alright, Nonna,” Peter whispers. 

“What’s wrong with your son, Anthony? I can’t have someone with _issues_ running my business.” Howard doesn’t seem bothered at all. 

Tony’s face hardens, his mouth stiffening into a flat line as he glares at his father, “What the hell?” He takes three quick, angry steps towards Howard. “Why would you say that? My son just had a panic attack right in front of you and all you ask is what’s wrong with him and tell me he’s not fit to run _my_ business? You couldn’t even ask if he’s okay?!” Maria takes Tony’s place in holding Peter close to her. “Get the hell out, dad!”

“What-”

“I tolerated your bullshit, I could take it!” Tony sounds madder than Peter’s ever heard him. Tony has never once raised his voice at Peter. Hearing it now is quite terrifying. “But I will not sit here and let you do the same to my son! Get out.” Tony’s voice is low and dangerous. Even Howard seems shaken by Tony’s voice. Howard stands and stalks out of the room without a word. Maria kisses the top of Peter’s head. “I’m sorry, mom,” Tony says. 

Maria waves him off and hugs her son close, “It’s finally time someone finally told him off. I’m proud of you.”

Tony smiles, “You’re welcome to visit anytime.” Maria thanks him, gives Peter a hug, and follows her husband out of the room, leaving the father and son alone. 

Peter nearly runs to hug his dad, “Are you okay?” He asks, his voice muffled by Tony’s shirt.

Tony fondly shakes his head, “I should be asking you that.” He buries one of his hands in his kid’s hair and holds him close. They’re okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> Tumblr- romeoandjulietyouwish


	21. Laced Drink

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only 10 days left! 
> 
> TW: hospital
> 
> (im not a doctor im sorry)

“You’re coming with me to the charity gala on Saturday,” Tony says, walking into Penny’s room without preamble. 

Penny, who was previously working on homework at her desk, turns around and asks, “What did you just say?”

“You’re coming with to the gala,” Tony sits down on Penny’s bed, facing him. “Pepper doesn’t want to.”

“And I do?”

Tony rolls his eyes, “It’ll be good for you. So this week we’ll get you a dress, or a suit if you want, I don’t want to assume-”

“Tony,” Penny interrupts. “I can’t go to the gala.”

“Why?”

Penny sighs and leans back in her chair, “Tony, I have a lot of anxiety especially around big social events,” she says softly. Two years ago she never would have been this upfront with Tony about her anxiety. Oh, how things change. 

Tony’s face softens as he reaches out to take Penny’s hand, “I know, Pen. I get it.” Tony squeezes Penny’s hand, “I’ll be with you the entire time. If you start feeling super anxious just tell me and we’ll leave, okay? It’ll be okay.”

Penny bites her lip, contemplating, “You won’t leave me alone?”

Tony shakes his head, “Not for a second.”

Penny thinks for a moment before quietly agreeing, “Okay.” 

Tony smiles at her, “You’re the best, Penny.”

So that’s how, a few days later, Penny is standing beside Tony in a too expensive dress, staring at a room full of people she doesn’t know. Tony’s hand is on Penny’s shoulder as they stand just outside the gala hall. 

“You good?” Tony asks softly. Penny nods, takes a deep breath, and lets Tony gently push her into the room. 

The gala passes by in a blur. 

Penny meets so many people she doesn’t remember and shakes so many hands. She answers the same questions over and over. Yes, she works for Tony Stark. Yes, she’s in high school. Yes, she’s an intern. Yes, she’d heard of your business. No, she’s not looking for a new job. Working with Tony is great. You have a good night too. It repeats over and over and over. She tries to remember everyone’s names, but no lymric or memorizing sequence helps her remember the dozens of white businessmen she meets in an hour.

“How are you doing, Pen?” Tony asks, pulling Penny to the side after they meet one last couple. He hands some money to the bartender as he pushes two glasses (on brandy, one water) towards them. 

Penny shrugs as she takes the glass of water, “I’m okay. I’m just anxious about forgetting names and stuff.” She takes a small sip of water to ease her nerves. 

Tony smiles at her, “Well I’ll give you the good news, you don’t have to remember a single one of them.”

Penny looks up at him with disbelieving eyes, “Really?”

Tony nods, “Yep. You’re never going to see these people again, so no. It doesn’t really matter.”

Penny grins, now that stress is gone she is able to relax a bit more, “Then I’m doing okay.”

Tony smiles, “I’m glad.”Tony nudges Penny’s shoulder, “I told you it wouldn’t be too bad.”

Without warning, Penny suddenly coughs into her arm. She coughs painfully three times, before lifting her head. But on her elbow is a dark patch of red against her pale skin. Penny gingerly touches it. She turns her hand to see blood staining her fingertips. Blood.

“Tony...?” She turns to face her mentor who wears a petrified look on his face. She presses a hand against her stomach, it’s painful. Her lungs aren’t taking in enough air.

“You’re okay, Pen,” Tony says, but he sounds uncertain. He wraps his arm around her waist to help support her. Penny leans against him, her lungs stuttering. Tony quickly takes out his phone and talks to FRIDAY, “FRI, get med staff in here, now.”

“Got it, Boss.” 

Penny’s skin is sickly pale and her breathing sounds impeded, almost wheezing. Her hands are clutched tight to Tony’s suit coat. “Tony,” she whispers, her voice is hoarse. 

“You’re going to be alright, kid.” Tony looks into Penny’s petrified eyes. “Med staff is on their way.” 

Just as he says that three people in white uniforms run towards them. “Mr. Stark?” One of the women asks. 

“It’s Penny,” Tony explains. The woman steps closer to Penny, looking her over, taking in the blood on her arm and lips. “She was coughing blood and she’s having trouble breathing.” 

“Okay, Penny,” the woman gently takes her arm. “We’re going to take you up to the med bay.” Penny gives them a delirious nod and pulls away from Tony. She moves to follow after the med staff, but before her foot can touch the ground, she crumples to the floor. The doctor is instantly kneeling at her side, taking her pulse. Tony gasps and leans over, he doesn’t want to hover over the doctors, but he needs to know if she’s okay. Penny’s eyes are closed and she looks almost like a doll, or Snow White. Her lips are stained red with blood and her skin is porcelain white. 

“She’s not breathing enough,” the doctor says. Tony thinks he’s going to have a heart attack. With the help of one of the others, the doctors lift Penny off the ground and carry her quickly to a stretcher waiting in the hallway outside. Tony follows them without hesitation. He can see the rest of the guests watching them, but he’s too worried about Penny right now to even care what they think. 

One of the doctors puts something over Penny’s nose and mouth and starts to run, pulling the stretcher behind them. It seems that Penny doesn’t quite understand what’s happening because she reaches out for Tony, her chest heaving with panicked breaths. 

“I’m right here, Penny,” Tony says, catching her hand and gently squeezing it. “I’m right here.”

They quickly make their way up to the medbay. The doctors get her attached to a heart monitor, and IV, and some antibiotics. 

“What’s wrong with her?” Tony desperately asks the doctors as they rush around the room. 

“We’re not sure,” one of the doctors says. “We think she’s been poisoned.”

“Poisoned?” Tony repeats in a daze. “Why on earth would anyone poison her?”

“That’s not our job,” the doctor says as he rushes out of the room. Penny reaches out for Tony again, making a soft noise to get his attention. Her breathing sound awful to his ear and her heartbeat sound too fast. 

Tony takes her hand and sits on the edge of her bed, “It’s going to be alright, Pen. I promise.” Penny lets out a soft whimper and coughs violently. Tony gasps and jumps back as her breathing mask is suddenly covered in blood. 

The heart rate monitor beeps like crazy and the doctors start to run around the room quickly going from one thing to another. 

Then Penny starts to shake, her eyes rolling back into her head. “Shit!” One of the doctors yells. “She’s having a seizure.” Someone pushes Tony back, his hand pulls out of Penny’s. His hand comes up to cover his mouth as he stumbles back and hits the wall. 

“Sir,” one of the nurses stands in front of him, “we need you to leave the room.”

Tony shakes his head, “No, no...she’s-she’s my daughter. I-I need to be here.”

“Sir, you can come back once we get her stable we’ll let you back in,” the nurse says kindly. She tugs on Tony’s arm until he stumbles after her. Once Tony is in the hallway, the door shut. 

Tony sinks to the floor, covering his mouth as he cries. Then he hears rapid footsteps running down the hallway, “Tony!” He looks up at Pepper as she runs down the hallway. Since Pepper didn’t go to the gala, she’s wearing sweats and a t-shirt, but her hair is done up neatly. She crouches down beside Tony and pulls him into a hug, “Poison?” Tony nods sadly into Pepper’s shoulder. “Why on earth would someone poison Penny?”

“To get to me,” Tony whispers. “I did this to her.”

Pepper smacks Tony’s shoulder, “Don’t you dare say that Tony, this is not your fault.”

Tony is about to respond, but the door opens before he can. “Mr. Stark?” The kind doctor asks. “You can come in now.” Tony and Pepper are immediately on their feet. “We have her stable and we’re working as quickly as we can on a cure.”

“Is she going to be okay?” Pepper asks the nurse as Tony pushes past them and into the room. 

The nurse sighs, “We don’t know yet. In all honesty, ma’am, if she has another seizure within the hour, her chances are low.” Pepper’s face falls as he glances to where her husband is holding Penny’s limp hand. “But things are looking good,” the nurse adds. “We were able to trace the poison to a glass of water she drank at the party and we have our best people working on an antidote.”  
Pepper thanks the nurse and sits beside her husband, “Did you hear any of that?”

Tony nods grimly, “I tried to tune it out.” He keeps his eyes on Penny who lays motionless in front of them. Tony thinks back to an hour ago, Penny had been so nervous to go to the fancy party, so worried about remembering names and faces. She had trusted Tony to take care of her. 

Tony doesn’t say anything to Pepper, he just watches Penny breathe. The mask on her face is no longer covered in blood, but there is blood on her chin and the front of her dress. He wishes he’d brought her a change of clothes. The doctors whirl around them, but Tony seems to be frozen in time. 

After what seems like days, a doctor runs into the room with a wide smile. Tony whips up to look at him as he quietly converses with the nurse before injecting something into her IV bag. 

The nurse walks over to the couple with a pleasant smile, “We found a cure.” Tony and Pepper exhale a simultaneous sigh of relief. “We’re giving it to her now, and we’ll know if it works within twenty minutes when she wakes up.”

Tony nods with a soft smile as he turns his eyes back to his daughter, “You hear that, Penny? You’re going to be okay.”

It takes fifteen more minutes, but finally Penny’s eyes open. She looks over at Tony with a small smile. Tony feels like he could fly, “How you feeling, sweetheart?”

“Good,” Penny mummers around the mask. “‘M I okay?”

Tony squeezes her hand, “Yeah, honey, you’re going to be just fine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	22. Hallucination

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so late. i wrote this while dissociated so please be kind
> 
> TW: temporary death, gunshot wounds, stab wounds

Peter knows it's not real, but when his sister bleeds out in front of him with a knife in her stomach, it's hard to tell anymore.

He doesn't know how long he's been captive or how long the hallucinations have been going on or where they're coming from. 

They all start the same, someone close to him (mostly Morgan, Tony, Ned, and May. But the other Avengers make appearances as well) running into his cell and telling him that they're going to save him. And it always ends with them dying before they can. 

No matter how many times Peter sees the illusion, he can't bear to look away. _Maybe the next one will be real._ It never is.

He watches for the first few hours, but each time it gets worse. He can’t watch them die over and over again. He curls into a tight ball in the corner of the room, hiding his face from the room, clapping his hands over his ears, and sobbing. But the illusions touch him. They try to get his attention by touching his back and shoulders. But he never looks up. They ask his questions, all he does is shake his head.

"Petey," Morgan's young voice sobs. "Petey please help me." Peter doesn't have to look up to know a long knife is providing from his sister's stomach.

"Go away!" Peter sobs, almost screaming at the illusion. 

"Peter?" It's Steve. He isn't as often an occurrence as Tony or Morgan, even Ned, but Peter knows how this one goes. "I'm here to save you, son." Peter shakes his head, not looking up. Steve's phantom hands grab his shoulder. "Peter we need to go!" Steve says urgently. "Peter we-" steve cuts himself off with a painful gasp. If Peter were to look up right now, he would see blood erupting from a bullet hole in Steve’s heart. Peter hears the heavy thud of Steve's body falling to the ground. 

Peter doesn't even try to hold back his sobs as they come. His cries echo painfully around the room. Maybe he'll exhaust himself and fall asleep. He doubts that would end the illusions.

"Peter!" It's Ned. "I just met all the Avengers, isn’t that so cool! And we're all here to save you. You have to get up right now!" 

Peter mumbles out a whimpering, "No."

"Do you want to die here?" Ned asks. When Peter doesn’t respond Ned says, “Peter, we need to go now. There’s not enough time.” Peter doesn’t say anything more. Ned lets out a huff of anger, "Fine then, I’ll leave you if that's what you want." 

“No, Ned,” Peter says quietly. But Ned doesn’t hear him. His footsteps start to walk back to the door of the cell, but then there is a sickening crack as Ned's neck is twisted at a horrible angle. 

Peter nearly bites clean through his lip. 

When the illusions first started appearing, he screamed. He screamed until he was hoarse. He begged them to stay with him to sit down next to him and stay. But they never did. He wanted to claw his eyes out. It took him two hours to discover they weren't real. 

“Pete? Buddy?” No. No. “Peter? Can you hear me?” And despite himself, Peter nods. He knows it not real, but the voice is so soft and comforting. “You're okay, kid, I'm going to get you out of here. Can you look at me?”

Peter shakes his head, “No,” he moans. 

Peter can almost hear the frown in Tony’s voice and it’s _so_ real, “Why not?”

Peter squeezes himself into an even smaller ball. He shouldn’t be talking to the illusion. It will only make it worse. But he can’t help himself. No matter how many times he sees Tony here, his heart still holds a small glimmer of hope that it could really be him.

“Because you’re not real,” Peter whispers.

“Peter, I’m real. I’m right in front of you! Look at me!” Tony shouts, pleading with Peter. It doesn’t sound like Tony anymore. Tony would be gentle with him like this, he wouldn’t ever raise his voice at Peter, especially not when Peter is in the state he is. 

“Go away,” Peter whimpers. And it does. With the shrill sound of a knife being scraped against the wall and then a pained cry as the knife is embedded in Tony’s arc reactor. And Peter knows it’s not real, he can’t hear the metallic whir of the reactor or the comforting thump of Tony’s heart. But it still hurts all the same when Tony calls out to him with his last breath, “Pete...I love...you.”

The real Tony has never said those words aloud.

And so it goes on and one. Hours and hours of Peter watching his friends and family die.

May.  
Natasha.  
Ned.  
Morgan.  
Steve.  
Tony.  
Clint.  
Morgan.  
Tony.  
Bucky.  
Ned.  
Sam.

Over and over again. 

The door to his cell opens. It’s a new illusion this time. One that almost makes Peter look up, but he doesn’t. It’s all of them at once. Possibly not Ned, Morgan, and May, but he doesn’t want to watch all of them die. 

The first voice he hears is Steve, “He’s shaking, Tony.”

“I know,” Tony responds. Peter can hear his footsteps as he walks across the cell and crouches down beside him. “Pete? I’m here with the others. We’re going to get you out of here.” Peter fights to keep his head down. “Can you hear me, buddy?” Peter nods, once jerkily. “Can I touch you?” Peter quickly shakes his head. He doesn’t trust whatever this new illusion is. Maybe it will hurt him. “Okay, can you look at me?” Peter shakes his head again, ducking his head even more against his knees. “Why not?” Tony asks with a frown. 

“Not real,” Peter mumbles. He doesn’t know if the illusion can hear him. But it doesn’t matter. The hallucination won’t understand what he’s trying to say.

“Not real?” Clint asks, “What is he talking about?” Someone shushes him. 

“Pete? Buddy? What do you mean ‘not real’,” Tony sounds really worried now. 

Peter shakes his head again, “All in my head.”

Tony catches on, “No. Peter, it’s not in your head. We’re really here, we’re going to save you.” Peter doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t even move. Tony sighs, “If it’s all in your head then you would understand everything that comes out of my mouth, yeah?” Peter gives him a slight nod. “Then if I say something you don’t know would you believe this was real?” Peter considers it for a moment. Then, deciding the worst that could happen was he watch all of his friends and family die at once, he nods. “Okay. I lied to you about not knowing Italian so I could hear your angry rants, did you know you sleep talk in Italian?” Tony’s voice is almost fond. “You once told me that you wanted your next Spiderman suit to be made completely out of pride flags.” Tony chuckles. Peter freezes. He didn’t know that. Slowly, he lifts his head. 

Tony is kneeling in front of him wearing a soft smile on his face, “Hey, bub.”

“This is real?” Peter asks hesitantly, his voice barely above a whisper. 

Tony nods, “Yeah, it is.” Peter doesn’t waste time launching himself into Tony’s arms. Even if this turns out to be fake, he needs to feel Tony’s hug one last time. Tony holds him as tight as his suit allows. Peter sobs into Tony’s neck, too relieved to be embarrassed. He clings tight to his mentor as Tony gently lifts him off the ground and begins walking. Steve and Natasha walk in front of them while Bucky and Clint hang back at their flanks, all eyeing the boy nervously.

This is real.

He’s not in the cell anymore. He’s okay. They’re really here to save him. It’s all going to be fine. 

Peter closes his eyes and lets the gentle thrum of all of their hearts lull him to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed
> 
> tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	23. Alt #3 - Fever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YAY

Peter is having a great day. He aced his AP Physics test, Flash was out sick, and best of all today is a lab day. He runs out of school with a bounce in his step, waving a quick goodbye to his friends before jumping into Happy’s car. 

“Hey, Happy!” Peter says cheerily. 

Happy raises a single eyebrow at him, “You’re chipper today.”

Peter grins, “Today is a great day.”

He rolls his eyes, “If you say so.”

Peter’s mood doesn’t dampen the entire car ride to the tower. Not even when they get stuck in traffic for an extra fifteen minutes. When they arrive in the tower’s garages, Peter bounces out of the car, calling out his thanks to Happy and bounding into the elevator. 

“Lab please, FRIDAY,” Peter says. 

“Of course,” FRIDAY responds sweetly as if she too is affected by the boy’s mood.

Once in the lab, Peter starts talking a mile a minute to Tony who sits hunched over his desk. Peter tosses his backpack on the couch and sits down at his desk, chattering mindlessly about some new upgrade idea he got at school and how he had already come up with a foolproof formula and he was eager to try it out and-

“Peter!” Tony snaps. Peter freezes. Tony never snaps at him. His mouth snaps shut and he turns bashfully to look at his mentor. “I have a pounding headache, I can’t breathe, and I’ve been trying to work on this formula for three hours without success. So please, for the love of God, shut your mouth and get to work.” Tony looks back at his work. 

Peter gulps and takes a calming breath, “I’m sorry, Tony.” Tony doesn’t say anything. Peter dejectedly turns back to his work. He resolves himself not to be the slightest annoyance. He doesn’t scrape his pencil too much, or type too loudly, or mumble ideas under his breath as he normally does. 

Something’s wrong with Tony. Peter knows that for sure. But he finally gets his answer when Tony blows his nose roughly into a Kleenex and clears his throat several times. 

“Are you sick, Tony?” Peter asks gently, not wanting to anger him any further.

“I told you to shut it,” Tony growls. “I’m doing important work.”

Peter bows his head and goes back to work. But he pulls out his phone and texts FRIDAY. 

**give me his temp, fri**

**Boss’s, temperature is currently 102.1.**

Fever. 

That’s why Tony’s being irritable. Why he snapped at Peter. He’s sick. Peter swallows thickly and stands up from his chair. Though he knows Tony would never hurt him, he can’t help being a bit cautious. Tony pays him no mind as he walks over to the couch and collects three blankets and dozens of pillows. He then goes to the fridge and gets bottles of water and some leftover food from two nights ago. He sends another text to FRIDAY asking where the fever reducer pills are and once he collects those, he makes his way over to Tony’s desk. 

“Not now,” Tony says harshly. Peter tries not to be hurt, Tony didn’t even use a nickname for him. “I’m busy.”

Peter ignores him. The worst Tony will do is slightly raise his voice at him, and piles onto his lap. His arms wrap around Tony’s neck and his head rests on his chest, Tony’s skin is too warm to the touch. 

Tony tries to shove Peter off of him, “Get off! I have to work.”

“No,” Peter says simply, clinging even tighter. “You have a fever. I’m not letting you get any work done until you drink some water, eat, and watch a movie with me on the couch.”

“Peter,” Tony bites, “this needs to be done before Monday.”

Peter shrugs, “Its’ only Friday.”

Tony sighs, he rightly thinks that there’s no point in contesting Peter, “If I go sit down for an hour will you let me keep working?” Peter nods against his chest. He can feel Tony sighs, “Okay then, what movie are we watching.”

Peter smirks, step one complete. 

Once he forces Tony to take two pills and eat half of the leftovers, he crawls and curls up against Tony’s side. That way if Peter falls asleep Tony will have to stay. Step two complete.

A quiet movie plays on TV, but Peter focuses on Tony instead. He blows his nose every few minutes and drinks water every time he coughs. Tony’s hand cards methodically through Peter’s curls. 

“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” Tony says after a while, his voice growing heavy. 

Peter shrugs, “You’re sick.”

Tony huffs in annoyance, “That’s not an excuse, Pete. I was horrible to you and I want you to know I didn’t mean a single word. You know how much I care about you, right?”

Peter smiles that was all he needed to hear. Well...not all. “You can just say it, Tony.”

“What?”

“You love me,” Peter says with a content smile. “You know you do.”

Tony rolls his eyes, but ruffles Peter’s hair, “I do.”

Step three is more difficult. Tony needs to fall asleep. Peter dims the lights, turns down the movie to be gentle background noise, and drags a thick blanket over the two of them. But Tony won’t go to sleep. Finally, Peter, fed up with this bullshit, changes his position so that he’s not just leaning against Tony, but is fully tucked under his arm, head on his chest, arms wrapped around Tony. Tony hums affectionately at the change and in turns holds Peter a bit tighter. 

But he’s still not asleep.

So Peter does the only thing he knows how to do. Acting young. Peter blinks his eyes slowly, miming being tired. He yawns. “Tony?” He mumbles, trying to sound sleepy. 

“Yeah, Pete?”

“You’re really warm,” Peter nuzzles closer to Tony. Peter can feel Tony’s laugh rumble through his chest. “And comfy.”

“You gonna fall asleep?” Tony asks softly. 

Peter nods, “Yeah, ‘m really tired.”

Peter can hear Tony’s soft smile in his voice, “Night, kid.”

“Night,” Peter mumbles. He pretends to stay awake for a few more minutes beofre closing his eyes for good and relaxing against Tony. 

A few minutes later, once Tony is sure Peter is asleep, he leans down and kisses the kid’s forehead. Peter fights to keep a smile in. “Love ya, kid.”

Tony slowly adjusts his posture to be in a more comfortable sleeping position and finally closes his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	24. Secret Injury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: graphic description of child abuse

Tony knows Peter’s emotions like the back of his hand. So when the boy walks into their lab with his head bowed and his eyes downcast, Tony is immediately worried. Peter doesn't say a word to him, as he sits down at his desk and gets to work. 

Tony watches him for a few moments before asking, “Everything alright, Pete?”

Peter nods, “I’m fine.”

Tony looks him over, he doesn’t seem hurt. Just...off. Tony goes back to work, but he keeps one eye on Peter and he makes sure not to play their music too loud in case Peter did want to talk. But he doesn’t. After two hours of silence, Tony has had enough. 

He pushes his chair over to Peter’s desk and sits down beside the boy, “What are you working on?” He asks kindly. 

Peter gently nudges his notebook towards Tony, “An update to the suit.”

Tony nods, it’s a brilliant idea. It would allow for more storage of web fluid and a sturdier parachute. “This is amazing, kid,” Tony says, truly in awe of the boy’s brilliance. 

Peter looks up at him with tentative eyes, “Yeah?”

Tony makes sure Peter can see the impressed smile on his face, “Yeah, I wish I had thought of that.”

Peter ducks his head to hide his blush, “It’s nothing.”

“It’s awesome,” Tony corrects. He goes to lay a hand on Peter’s shoulder, but as he does, Peter tenses and closes his eyes. Tony stills, “Pete?”

Peter shakes his head, “I’m okay.”

“Are you?” Tony places his hand back into his lap. Peter nods. Tony doesn’t believe him, but he doesn’t really know how to deal with this situation. He’s not a parent and he certainly hasn’t read any parenting books. So he accepts his answer. If something were seriously wrong Peter’d tell Tony. Right?

So the day ends without either saying another word to the other except for Peter saying a soft goodbye to Tony as he leaves, but that’s it. But as Peter pulls on his jacket, Tony can see the sliver of a bruise on his stomach. He frowns. Karen didn’t tell him about any injuries on patrol. But when Tony goes through the suit’s records, he finds that Peter hasn’t been on patrol in nearly two weeks. So where the hell did he get that bruise from?

Tony shakes his head as Peter leaves before he can say anything. He might not have even seen the bruise, it could have been a trick of light and shadows. He’d only seen it for a second. Perhaps it’s his brain trying to put together a reason for Peter’s strange behavior today. 

Yes. That’s it.

But when Peter comes back on Friday, nothing’s better. In fact, it’s worse. Peter is sporting a lovely black eye and when he comes into the lab, his footsteps are so light Tony doesn’t notice him for a few seconds. 

When he looks up Tony stifles a gasp, “Peter!” The boy tenses. “What the hell happened to your eye?” Tony is up in an instant, quickly crossing the room to Peter. He doesn’t’ fail to notice how Peter tenses as he gets closer, hands curling into fists. 

“I fell,” Peter murmmers, his voice no louder than a whisper. “I’m fine.”

Tony shakes his head. He won’t accept that this time, “You fell? And hit your eye?” Peter nods, he tugs his sleeves down over his hands, bringing Tony’s attention to his hands. His left one is black and blue, his fingers slightly swollen. His hand is broken. “Peter!” Tony reaches out to grab Peter’s hand, but before he can, Peter flinches back. His hands come up to his chest protectively and his chest starts heaving. Peter watches Tony with fearful eyes. 

“Pete?” Tony says gently, immedietly backtracking. “I’m not going to hurt you.” He shows his hands to Peter, palm up. “I’m just going to help you.”

“That’s what he said,” Peter says under his breath, only just loud enough for Tony to hear. 

“Who?” Tony asks softly. Peter simply shakes his head. Tony doesn’t want to push him. “Okay, we can talk about that later, but right now you need to let me take care of your injuries, yeah?” Peter nods hesitantly. “Come on, kid,” Tony leads the way to the couch in the lab. Peter gingerly sits on the edge of the seat while Tony digs out the first aid kit. Tony sits beside him on the couch, making sure to leave some distance between the two. “Can I touch your hand?” Peter nods and holds out his injured hand to Tony. When Tony touches Peter’s hands, the boy tenses, but after a second or two he relaxes slightly. Peter watches Tony’s hands as he begins to wrap and set his hand. 

“Where did you learn that?” Peter asks. He instantly shakes his head, “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay, Peter,” Tony says gently. He has a sinking feeling about what happened to his kid. Maybe he can draw him out. “I used to have to do this too myself,” Tony explains. “My dad was never a good father, he didn’t like that I wasn’t like him so he hurt me.” Peter stills. “It was never too much, all of it could be hidden by clothes so no one would ever know.” Tony takes a deep breath. “One time I was home alone and I accidentally broke a picture frame. I hid under my bed so he wouldn’t find me, but he did.”

“Tony...” Peter says softly, his eyes are slowly filling with tears. 

“Let me finish, Pete,” Tony continues. “When he found me he dragged me out from under the bed by my arm. He squeezed my hand so tight he broke my hand. He screamed and yelled and threw things, but when he finally left. Edwin Jarvis came into my bedroom.” Tony has a faint smile at the mention of the name. “He didn’t say anything, didn’t force me to talk. He already knew what happened. But he took my broken hand and showed me how to take care of it.” As Tony finishes the story, Peter is watching him with teary eyes. Tony offers him a soft smile, “The reason I told you that story isn’t to make you feel sad, but because I think I know why you’ve been off this week.”

Peter shakes his head immedietly, “It’s not what you think.”

Tony is sure to keep his face eye and his tone calm, “Are you sure?” Peter shakes his head, biting his lip as if to keep the words in. Tony longs to pull the kid into his arms, but he knows that wouldn’t help. “You can tell me anything, Peter. I won’t judge you.”

Peter shakes his head, “I-I can’t tell you.”

Tony frowns, “Why not? Did someone threaten you?” He already knows the answer, but it is confirmed when Peter nods. “Who threatened you, Pete?” 

“Jacob,” Peter’s voice is soft and he says the name almost like saying it will summon the man. “He-he’s May’s new boy-boyfriend.” Peter sniffs, tears falling down his cheeks. “He didn’t like me.” Peter takes a long breath. “He hit me...a lot,” Peter shakes his head and tries to mop up his tears. “And he didn’t...he didn’t stop. He told me...told me that I...I sh-shouldn’t speak until spoken too.” Tony recognizes that phrase. His dad had told it to him over and over again. He _hates_ that someone said it to Peter. “So I stop-pped talking, but you know me.” Peter lets out a painful laugh. “I can never shut up. So he hit...hit me again and again,” Any trace of humor is gone. “He said these...horrible things to me.” Peter covers his mouth to hide a sob. “Can I...can I have a hug?” Peter asks and Tony’s heart breaks at how nervous Peter sounds. He’s waiting for rejection. Tony doesn’t give it to him, he moves slowly into a tight embrace of the crying child. Peter clings tightly to him, face pressed against Tony’s chest. “I-I’m sorry,” Peter whimpers. 

Tony combs his fingers through the boy’s hair, leaning back to take all of Peter’s weight, “Shh, it’s alright, Pete. You don’t need to apologize.” Tony holds his closer. After everything Tony just heard from Peter, all he can say is, “I’m going to kill him,” he growls, immediately regretting it when Peter stiffens. He gently gets the boy to relax again by rubbing his back and murmuring soft words of comfort to him. Peter doesn’t stop crying.

“Tony,” Peter gasps through his sobs. “I...I’m so afraid,” he whispers the last word as if it can hurt him from just being spoken aloud. 

“I know, bambino, I know,” Tony kisses the top of his head. “But it’s all going to be okay now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3  
Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	25. Humiliation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: bullying

Peter has never been the smartest in his class. He’s smart, sure, but not as much as the rest of his class. What makes it worse is that he’s a Stark. Stark as in Tony Stark. The smartest man in the generation. Who’s son can’t even answer a question in class. 

“Peter Stark?” The teacher calls. Peter lifts his head. The teacher stares down at him with a cold gaze. “What is the derivative of this problem?”

Peter wrings his hands together, “I-I don’t know, sir.” He looks back down at his notebook as the teacher stalks over to Peter’s desk. 

“Stand up,” the teacher says. Peter does, he can feel the class’s eyes on him. His hands are shaking. “Why don’t you know the answer?” The teacher asks sharply.

Peter shifts his feet, “I-I don’t understand the formula, sir.” His heart beats like the wings of a hummingbird in his chest. He wished they would stop looking at him. 

The teacher cocks his head to the side, “We have been working on derivatives for five classes and you still don’t understand it?” The class snickers. “I thought Starks were supposed to be smart. You clearly are not.” Peter hangs his head. “Sit down, Stark,” the teacher says. “Next time you’ll know the answer or I won’t be so nice.” Peter sits and he can feel dozens of eyes on him. As the teacher walks up to the front, a paper falls onto his desk with scrawled handwriting. 

_whats two plus two stark? what too dumb to answer?_

He crumples up the paper and throws it on the floor.

Peter hunches his shoulders as he leaves the class but Flash steps in front of him with a horrible smirk decorating his face, “You’re just as stupid as we all thought. You’re not a Stark, you’re just a fraud.” Flash gets into his face, “Your dad must be ashamed he has such a fuck up for a son.” He’s right. “If my son were as stupid as you I would kick him straight to the curb.” Flash and his friends laugh. 

Peter pushes past Flash and runs. He runs straight out fo the school, despite having three classes left. He can’t be in that building anymore. With all their eyes judging him. Watching his every move. Peter runs through the bustling street of New York, flipping up his coat collar to shield from the biting fall air. 

They’re all right about him. The teacher. Flash. The rest of the class. He’s not good enough. He’s not a Stark. His dad would be ashamed if he knew he was failing every class. He would disown him if he knew how bad he really was doing in school. But he can’t tell him. 

No.

He told his dad that he was doing good in all of his classes, that he was the teacher’s pet, that he never had homework because he did it at school. But the truth is he stays up past midnight every night fighting his way through his school work. The only class he’s passing is US History. Not a single one of his teachers favors him in the slightest. He can’t even get one question right in class.

His dad wouldn’t love him he knew. 

He wouldn’t be a Stark without the signature Stark brain. 

Peter doesn’t know where’s he’s running to. He gets call after call from his dad than from his aunts and uncles. He dismisses all of them. He wants to be alone and cry and scream until his voice blows out. But his phone has a tracker, so they can still find him. Peter ducks into a large alley away from the eyes of busy New Yorkers. He slides down the brick wall and just breathes. He won’t cry in the middle of the street. But not even ten minutes later the Iron Man suit touches down in front of him. Peter’s eyes are glued to his shoes as Tony steps out of the suit. 

“What the hell are you doing?” Tony asks sharply. He pulls his son to his feet, scanning him for injuries.

“I-I’m sorry,” Peter says softly. Suddenly, confronted with his dad, Peter can’t hold up his resolve anymore. He cries. Hot tears run down his cheeks in streams, he bites his lip to keep from audibly crying.

Tony gently touches his shoulders, “Hey, did something happen at school, bambino?” Peter nods. He roughly wipes away his tears. His dad, seeing that motion pulls him into his arms. “It’s alright now. I’m right here.” Peter cries into his dad’s chest for a few more seconds before he pushes himself away and scrubs at his cheeks. Tony squeezes his shoulder, “Let’s go home and talk, yeah?” Peter nods. 

At the tower, his Aunt Natasha is waiting for him with the same worried expression as his dad had. Peter bows his head, he hadn’t meant to worry her. Natasha is the first to move towards him. She gently wraps him in a supportive hug and whispers into his ear, "You alright?" Peter nods into her shoulder.

Tony claps his hands together, "Okay, I love you Nat. But please leave, Peter and I need to have a talk."

Natasha rolls her eyes but leaves, touching Peter’s arm as she passes. Once they’re alone, Tony gives Peter a soft smile, "Okay kid, food first?"

Peter shakes his head, "Can we just get this over with?"

Tony squeezes his shoulder, "Okay." The father and son sit down on the couch. Tony squeezes Peter’s hands, “Can you tell me what happened?” Again, Peter shakes his head. “Why not? You can tell me anything, buddy.”

Peter shakes his head, “You’ll hate me.”

Tony squeezes Peter’s hands again, “I could never hate you, Pete. You’re my son, nothing could ever change that.” Tony touches Peter’s cheek, “Can you tell me?”

Peter sniffs, “I...um...I lied to you.” Peter rubs his thumbs over the sleeves of his sweatshirt.

“About what,” Tony sounds so gentle, he always is with Peter.

Peter takes a deep breath. He’s really about to do this. He’s about to tell his dad how much of a failure he is. “I’m not smart.”

Tony sighs, “Peter-”

“No,” Peter cuts him off before he can tell him otherwise. “Let me talk.” Tony nods, watching his son anxiously. Peter sighs, “Dad, I lied about being smart. I lied about acing my classes. I lied about being the teacher’s pet and I lied about doing homework.” Tony’s face is stunned, but Peter keeps going. “I’m not smart, dad.” Peter’s voice cracks. “It takes me dozens of tries to even get simple math problems right. It takes me hours to do one piece of homework.” Peter shakes his head, “I’m not a Stark. I’m not smart. I can’t follow in your footsteps. I’m sorry, dad” Peter cries, he leans forward to cover his face, but all of a sudden Tony is scooping into a tight hug.

Peter had been counting on his dad getting angry at him for lying and yelling at him, turning him away. Disowning him. But no. Tony just holds him close, gently rocking him side to side. 

“It’s alright, Peter,” Tony calms him gently. “I’m not upset. It’s okay.”

Peter shoves Tony off of him, “Why aren’t you mad! I lied to you for _years_ and you’re not mad!” He nearly shouts.

Tony just smiles and touches Peter’s cheek, “I’m not mad because I understand.” Tony pulls Peter back to him. “Yes, I wish you hadn’t lied. I wish you had told me sooner so I could help you.” Tony kisses the top of the boy’s head, “But no, I’m not mad. You will never be a disappointment to me. You _are_ a Stark, even if you struggle with math.” Peter closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “But from now on when you get home from school, you and I are going to sit down together and do your homework.”

“Dad, you don’t have to-”

“I want to,” Tony shushes him. “I’m your dad so what I say goes, go it?” Peter nods. “We’ll work through your homework, as long as it takes for you to understand it.” Peter smiles and presses himself closer to his dad. “I’m sorry you felt like you had to keep this from me, bambino.”

Peter shrugs, “I’m okay, dad.” Tony shakes his head and gently pushes Peter back slightly. 

“You’re not. You ran away from school and you were crying when I found you.” Peter bites his lip and looks down. “There’s more to the story, I know there is. So tell me.”

Peter nods, “Okay...um...during second period the teacher called on me in class. I didn’t know the answer so he had me stand up and he told me that Starks were supposed to be smart and that I was too stupid to be one.” Tony’s hands curl into fists. “Everyone was watching and laughing and when class ended Flash told me that you were ashamed of me because I was so stupid,” Peter says quietly. 

“Tell me which teacher and I’ll kick his ass,” Tony says dangerously. “Let him try to keep his job,” he scoffs. “And you bet your ass I’m talking to the school about Flash.” Peter smiles to himself, why did he ever doubt his dad. 

“I love you,” Peter says, catching Tony by surprise with a forceful hug. 

Tony laughs, “I love you too, kid.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	26. Abandoned

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3

Peter wakes up laying on a cold stone floor. He sits up, clutching his head. His brain feels like it’s been shoved through a meat grinder. He groans, forcing his eyes open. Where the hell is he? The room is small, concrete floors and walls. No windows, only a simple metal door on the far wall. It’s lit by one florescent light embedded in the ceiling. He’s being held captive. Yay. But Peter’s not alone. Laying just a few feet away is Tony. 

Peter crawls closer to him, “Tony,” he says, shaking the man’s shoulder. “Tony wake up.” He doesn’t move. Peter groans in frustration. Whatever drug they gave them wore off faster on him. Stupid enhanced metabolism. He sighs and sits down against the wall. Peter keeps a watchful eye on the door to the cell. If it opens before Tony is up he’ll have to figure this out on his own. With Tony at least he has some help. 

But thankfully, a few minutes later, Tony begins to wake up. “Peter?” Tony mumbles under his breath, eyes still closed. 

Peter touches his shoulder, “I’m right here, Tony.” Tony’s eyes fling open. His eyes dart around the room apprehensively, not even looking at Peter. “Tony?” Peter asks softly. He touches his hand to get his attention, Tony doesn’t look at him. 

“Peter!” Tony shouts, causing Peter to jump. “Peter! Where are you!”

“I’m right here!” Peter exclaims. “It’s not funny.” As Tony stands so does Peter, stepping in front of his mentor. “I’m right here Tony.” Tony walks through him as if he’s a ghost. Peter gasps, touching his chest. _What the hell?_ He runs up to Tony and roughly shakes his shoulders, he hits his back, he screams his name. Nothing. Tony doesn’t even turn around. 

“Let me out of here!” Tony howls, banging on the door. “Where’s Peter?!”

Peter stumbles back. Tony can’t see him or hear him. Oh my god. Peter winds his fingers into his hair and pulls, trying to calm himself. What’s going on? Is he dead? Maybe he’s a ghost. Peter shakes his head. That’s not right. When he touches his chest he can feel his heart pounding and his warm blood. He doesn’t _feel_ dead. Okay. That’s some good news. So what? He’s invisible then? Maybe. 

Tony is still shouting for him and pounding on the door when it swings open, smacking Tony. Tony falls back onto the floor with a groan. Peter is on his feet instantly, he knows he won’t be much help to Tony, but he can make sure he’s okay. Tony’s nose is bleeding, but he’s otherwise okay.

“Hello, Tony.” Tony and Peter both look up at the same time to see a wizard in the doorway. The wizard, as evident by the long cloak and magic pendant, looks in Peter’s eyes and winks before looking back at Tony. 

And the pieces fall in place.

The wizard took them. He knocked them out and turned Peter invisible. The worst possible torture for both of them. Shit. But then Peter lets out a sigh of relief, if a wizard did this to him, then Strange will be able to reverse it. 

“Where the hell is my kid?” Tony growls as he stands up, hands clenched into fists. 

The wizard smirks, “What kid?”

Tony charges at the wizard, “You son of a bitch, I know you have my kid somewhere. Give him back to me!” If Peter’s heart swells at Tony calling him his kid, no one has to know. 

“I’m afraid I don’t know where he is, Mr. Stark,” the wizard chuckles. He tosses Tony a cloth to clean up his blood, “I’ll see you later.” 

Tony tries to follow the wizard out the door, but the door slams in his face before he can. Tony slams his fist into the door, causing Peter to jump. He throws the cloth away. 

“It’s okay, Tony,” Peter says gently. He touches the man’s shoulder. “He’s not hurting me. I’m right here. I’m safe.” But Tony doesn’t hear him. Of course he doesn’t. Peter sinks to the floor as Tony paces the room over and over again. “You don’t need to worry about me,” Peter says to Tony. “No one can hurt me like this.” Peter scoffs. “No one can even touch me like this.” Tony’s feet clomp loudly in the echoey room. “You should sit and rest. Clean up your face,” Peter tells him. “You’re going to wear yourself out.” A minute later, Tony finally does. He sits down against the wall and mops up the blood with the cloth. “Finally,” Peter laughs. He stands up and then sits back down beside Tony, leaning on his shoulder. 

After sitting in against the wall wearing a heavy frown for a few minutes, Tony clasps his hands together, bows his head, and begins to pray in Italian, “Ave Maria, piena di grazia, il Signore e con te.” Peter bows his head and folds his hands together, respecting Tony’s prayer. “Tu sei benedetta fra le donne e benedetto e il frutto del tuo seno, Gesu. Santa Maria, Madre di Dio, prega per noi peccatori, adesso e nell’ora della nostra morte. Amen.”

“Amen,” Peter repeats. He looks up at Tony with a soft smile, “I didn’t know you spoke Italian.”

Tony sighs, “Peter, where ever you are, I hope you’re okay.” Tony’s voice is soft almost like he’s still praying. 

“I’m okay,” Peter says. They sit like that for a long time. Peter doesn’t know how long they sit there, but it’s long enough for Tony to tip his head back and fall asleep. Peter smiles and lays down on the floor, resting his head on Tony’s leg. “Goodnight, Tony.”

Peter jerks awake when the door bangs open. Peter jumps up from where he was resting his head on Tony’s leg, instantly ready to fight. Tony is just a hair slower but is just as ready to fight. But they don’t need to. Because on the other side of the door is Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff. 

“Tony.” Steve walks quickly towards Tony, pulling his friend into a hug. “Are you alright?” Tony nods. “Good. Let’s get out of here.” Steve tries to pull Tony towards the door, but Tony won’t move. “Tony, what-”

“Peter’s here somewhere,” Tony says. “We were together when the wizard took us.”

Natasha frowns, “Tony, we checked the entire building before we found you, there’s no one else here.”

“I’m right here,” Peter says. “You don’t need to look for me.”

Tony shakes his head, “No, that can’t be right. He’s here, I know he is.”

Steve tugs Tony’s arm again, “We need to go. Once we get back to the tower we’ll call Strange and have him track him. Okay? C’mon, let’s go.” 

Tony plants his feet, “He’s my kid, Steve. I’m in charge of him, I can’t just abandon him!”

Steve grips Tony’s shoulders tightly, “Tony. You’re not abandoning him.” Peter nods in agreement. “We don’t know where he is and right now we need to get you safe first.”

Peter touches Tony’s shoulder, “It’s okay. We need to go. I’ll be right here the whole time.”

As if Tony can hear Peter, he reluctantly agrees and allows Natasha and Steve to take him out of the room. Peter follows close behind as they run quickly out of the building. Peter quickly loses track of where they are in building, but somehow they get to the ground floor and into the quinjet. As Natasha goes to piolet, Steve sits down on the bench beside Tony. Peter takes his place at Tony’s feet, leaning against his legs. “We’re going to find him, Tony,” Steve tells him. “FRIDAY is summoning Strange to the tower as we speak.”

“Steve,” Tony says, so calm Peter knows he passed worried and stressed and afraid. “I can’t lose him.”

“I know, Tony.”

“No, you don’t.” Peter looks up at Tony in confusion. “He’s my kid, Steve. Do you know what it’s like to have a child trust you with their life? To look at you as if you could take away all of their problems? Because I do.” Peter has never heard Tony talk about him like this. Tony’s talking about his as if he is his child. Which...isn’t wrong. Peter smiles and leans back against Tony’s legs. “If he is missing or dead...” Tony takes a long breath. “That’s on me.”

Peter touches Tony’s hands, “I’m okay, Tony. I’m not hurt.”

Steve apologizes to Tony, squeezing his arm in comfort. No one says anything for the rest of the ride. Finally, they arrive at the tower. They all rush off of the quinjet and into the living room. Tony sits down on the couch and Peter sits beside him. 

A few minutes later, Strange steps through the portal and into the room, “You needed me?”

Peter smiles up at Stephen from where he sits leaning against Tony’s leg. He can fix everything. Steve and Natasha explain the situation to Stephen, the man nodding the whole time. 

“I can find him,” Stephen says. Tony sits up at attention. Strange closes his eyes, opening them a few seconds later. “He’s right there,” Strange says, pointing to the spot on the couch Peter is occupying. Peter wiggles his fingers at Stephen who rolls his eyes at the boy’s antics. Peter smiles, he can see him.

Tony pinches the bridge of his nose, “I thought you said you could help.”

“I can,” Stephen’s voice is tight. “Give me a moment.” 

Strange closes his eyes, not even a minute later. Peter screams, clutching head. His entire body feels like it’s being torn apart and stitched back together all at once. It’s like he’s on fire. He hears someone say his name and then strong arms wrap around his middle. He’s in so much pain that he can’t even open his eyes. Someone says his name over and over, telling him he’s okay. Peter’s cries turn into painful sobs, wracking through his body violently. 

“Strange!” Someone calls. “What’s wrong with him?”

“Think of every cell in his body as having two sides. One that makes him visible one that doesn’t,” Strange says calmly. “So every one of his cells has to completely turn over. It’s quite excruciating if you can imagine.”

Every muscle in Peter’s body is tense and painful. The arms around him clutch him tighter. “How much longer will it last?”

“Only a few more minutes.”

A hand fluffs his curls, “You hear that Petey? You’re going to be okay soon.” 

Peter sobs, he can’t stand this anymore. This is worse than death, he thinks. He clings tightly to the person holding him, wanting desperatly for it to end. Finally, after two more minutes, the pain goes away and Peter collapses, panting heavily. He opens his eyes to find Stephen watching him passively while Steve and Natasha are watching him like hawks. 

“Hi, Pete.” Peter looks up to find himself leaning on Tony’s chest. His head is tucked under the man’s chin with Tony’s arms holding him close. Tony gives him a soft smile, “You alright?”

Peter nods, “Yeah,” his voice is breathy. “Yeah, I’m good.”

Tony gently touches his cheek, “You really scared me, kid. I thought we abandoned you.”

Peter shakes his head, “I was here the whole time.” He offers Tony a small smile, “I didn’t know you spoke Italian.”

A light blush colors Tony’s cheeks, “You heard that?” Peter nods. “So I’m guessing you heard the part-”

“About me trusting you with my life?” Peter asks, shrugging, “It’s true.” 

Tony smiles, “You want a hug?”

“You know I do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	27. Ransom

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're in the home stretch now folks!
> 
> TW- kidnapping

Penny and Tony received the ransom demand at 2:00 that Thursday afternoon. An email notification pinged on Tony’s phone, neither of them thought anything of it. Lab time was sacred, they mostly didn’t answer texts or notifications. But when FRIDAY says, “Boss, you should look at that email,” Tony and Penny finally lift their heads from their work. 

FRIDAY never says anything like that. So what is going on? Penny and Tony crowd around Tony’s computer as he opens the email. The most recent one is subjected: **OPEN AS SOON AS RECIEVED**. The two exchange a nervous glance as Tony opens the email. Inside is no writing, only an embedded file of a video. Tony plays the video.

On-screen is a woman with sharp features wearing dark lipstick, “Hello, Mr. Stark,” she greets. Her voice is almost kind, but Penny knows better. “It seems that somethings of your have fallen into my possession.” She steps away to reveal Pepper and Morgan being held by two muscly men. Both of them are gagged. Pepper had a large cut on her forehead and bruises up and down her arms. Morgan’s eyes are overflowing with tears, her cheeks red from crying. She doesn’t seem as hurt as her mother, but she also has large bruises on her arms. Pepper jerks roughly against her captors. 

Penny’s hand covers her mouth as Tony is frozen. Tony pauses the video, “FRIDAY, is this real? Where are Pepper and Morgan?”

“I am unable to locate either of them within the tower, boss,” FRIDAY says. “They both went out to lunch approximately four hours ago.” _Four hours ago._ Penny takes his hand and gives it a tight squeeze. They keep watching. 

“Now,” the woman says, “you can either give me 12 million dollars in cash by noon tomorrow, or you can watch your wife and daughter die.” She smiles wickedly, “It’s your choice.” Pepper and Morgan’s muffled screams serve as background to her words as the video ends. 

“Oh my god,” Penny says softly. “Tony, what do we do?” She looks over at Tony who is just staring at the screen. His eyes are brimming with tears. “Tony?”

“We need to save them,” Tony says, not looking over at her. “We need to track them if we can.” He bites his thumb, “If we can’t find them by midnight, then we need to prepare to meet them in person.”

Penny nods, “Okay.” She has FRIDAY summon the Avengers in the lab. They all enter with somber expressions and pat Tony’s shoulders. He doesn’t acknowledge them. “How do we do this?” She asks Natasha. 

The woman sighs, “Leave that to us.”

Penny frowns, looking at all their faces, “What? Why can’t I help?”

Sam walks up to her and gently touches her shoulder, “Penny, let us take care of this. You’re too close to Pepper and Morgan to let your head guide you, not your heart,” Sam explains kindly. “You and Tony are going to go upstairs and let us work on this.”

“Sam, no-”

“He’s right, Penny,” Tony says. All eyes whip to him. 

Penny glares at him, “You of all people should be on my side!” She shouts. “It’s your family on the line and you don’t even want to help?!”

Tony sighs, “Penny, don’t yell.” She crosses her arms. “I know how you’re feeling, Pen. Trust me, I do. But right now the best thing for us is to go upstairs, get some food, and go to bed. Neither of us will be any help to them right now.”

“Listen to Tony,” Steve says calmly. “We have some of the best spies in the room right now, if anyone can find them it’s us.”

Penny shakes her head, “We need to work fast, wouldn’t it go faster if you had more people?”

Natasha gives her a sympathetic look, “Not when those people are too overwhelmed with fear and anxiety to be of any use.”

Penny doesn’t get the chance to defend herself, “C’mon, Penny,” Tony stands and begins dragging Penny out of the room. She tries to fight him but is too distraught to. Penny yanks herself away from Tony once they’re in the elevator. 

She tries her best to take slow and measured breathes, but inside all she wants to do is panic. She wants to scream and shout and plow down everyone in her way between her and finding her family. Which is why she snaps at Tony when he tries to get her to sit down on the couch, “Don’t touch me!” 

Tony sighs, “Penny, really? You’re mad at me right now?”

Penny sets her jaw, “Of course I am! My little sister and my mother,” she doesn’t even have time to think about what she just called Morgan and Pepper, “are being held hostage who knows where and none of you will let me help!” Her voice echoes through the large room. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I don’t have much of a family anymore! Everyone I love has been taken from me and there was always something I could have done to prevent it! I never did!” Penny shrieks. Tony’s face fills with guilt and remorse and something...softer. “So now I have a chance to save them and you won’t let me?! You expect me not to be upset with you?!” Penny shakes her head, “You have no idea what I’m going through right now, Tony.”

“You don’t think I’ve lost people too?” Tony asks softly. “You don’t think I worry about you, Morgan, and Pepper every second of every day? Because I do.” He takes a deep breath. “Penny, there is nothing I want to be doing more than finding my daughter and my wife, but I know that if I were to go down and help I would be a useless member of the team. You and I owe Pepper and Morgan a team who can focus on just finding them without letting their emotions get in the way. Don’t you think?”

Penny shakes her head, “Did you not see that video? They were hurting them, Tony!” Tony flinches. “Who knows what could happen to them in the hours it will take to track them? They could be dead by morning-”

“Go to bed,” Tony says coldly. The sudden change is jarring. When Penny doesn’t move he adds, “Right now, Penny.”

Penny groans in frustration, but runs out the living room and into her bedroom, slamming the door behind her. She stomps on the floor, screams, and repeatedly punches one of her pillows. But none of it makes her feel better.

“FRIDAY, can I go down to the lab?” She asks once she exhausts herself.

“Boss has temporarily restricted your access to only your bedroom unless you need food or are planning on apologizing,” FRIDAY replies. Penny groans again, falling down on to her bed. She kicks her legs angrily, why does Tony always have to be one step ahead of her? 

Penny lays on her bed, too tired to move. She stares at one spot on her wall for what seems like hours before someone knocks on her door. “Penny?” It’s Tony. “I made some dinner, do you want any?” Penny doesn’t reply. “Pen, I know you’re not sleeping and I know you can hear me. Do you want any food?” Penny is too stubborn to let him see through her cracks. Tony sighs, “I’ll leave it outside, it’s spaghetti with some homemade sauce I know you love.” He’s not wrong. A few seconds later he says, “Goodnight, Pen.” Tony walks away. 

Penny bursts into tears. Why did she do that? Tony cares about her. Why would she push him away. He made her dinner even though they were mad at each other. She tugs her blankets over top of her and just cries. SHe cries for herself, for Morgan and Pepper, and for Tony. But soon she runs out of tears, and her sadness gives way to exhaustion.

In Penny’s dream, Morgan and Pepper are calling out her. They beg her for help. They accuse her of letting them die. Pepper’s neck is cut wide open, blood covering her front. Morgan’s eyes are glassy, her neck is twisted past what it should be. Penny screams loudly, waking herself up. She sobs into her arms, curling up into a ball. Penny’s bedroom door opens, flooding it with light from the hallway. Someone runs across her room to pull her into their arms. She clings to them, seeking comfort. 

“It’s alright, Penny,” Tony whispers, brushing a hand through her hair. “It’s alright”

“Tony?” She whimpers. 

“I’m right here, sweetheart,” Tony says calmly. “It’s okay, it was just a dream.”

“Pepper and Morgan...” She gasps. 

“I know, I know,” Tony shushes her. “They’re going to be here soon, okay? They’re just fine.”

That is not what Penny was expecting. She pulls away from Tony, wiping at her cheeks, “What?”

Tony smiles softly at her, gently touching her cheek, “They found them, Pen. Steve and the others are bringing them home.”

Penny’s eyes blow wide, “They’re okay?”

Tony nods, “They’re going to be here any moment.” Penny throws herself into Tony’s arms, biting her lip to keep from crying any further. Tony holds her tight. 

“I’m sorry,” Penny says. “I’m sorry I yelled and I’m sorry for everything I said-”

“It’s alright,” Tony says. “We were both upset.”

Before Penny can reply, a knock comes on her door. Both of them look up to see Pepper and Morgan standing in the doorway. Both look a little worse for the wear, littered with white bandages, but otherwise okay. 

“Penny!” Morgan says happily. As fast a light she runs across the room and throws herself into Penny’s arms. Penny sobs into her sister’s hair. She’s really here. She’s really okay. 

“Hi, Mo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please leave a comment if you enjoyed!
> 
> tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	28. Beaten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry this is late yall. if you follow me on tumblr you know how goddamn crazy my life is rn
> 
> TW: hospital

They won. 

They beat Thanos. 

But not everything is okay. Peter runs down the slope of the now demolished Avenger’s Compound towards where he last saw his mentor. He sees the others racing towards the man as well. People shoot him concerned looks as he runs, but he has no time to care about them. When he slides into place beside Pepper, he feels his heart sink. Tony isn’t moving. Peter chokes, hand coming up to cover his mouth. No. No. _No._ This isn’t supposed to be happening. Everything’s supposed to be okay now, they’re supposed to be happy now.

Someone roughly shoves past Peter, bumping him into Pepper. It’s Doctor Strange. Warm orange magic surrounds Tony for a few seconds. Pepper holds Peter by the shoulders. “He’s alive,” Strange says after a moment. Pepper sinks to her knees in relief. “We need to get him to the hospital right now.” Strange says as he is already opening up a portal. Steve takes a long breath before lifting the unconscious man into his arms and following Strange through the portal. _He’s alive._

Rhodey leans down and helps Pepper to her feet. As they walk towards the portal, Peter steps back. He shouldn’t follow them. It’s been too long, he’s never been close with them. But before Pepper allows Rhodey to guide her completely through the portal, she turns around and offers her hand to Peter, “Come on.” Peter jumps to his feet and takes her hand. 

The three of them walk through the portal together.

They sit in the waiting room of the hospital for five hours. The doctors told them they had to perform emergency surgery. Happy brought them all a change of clothes from the lake house. At first, Peter didn’t expect to have any, but when Happy handed a bundled stack with his favorite t-shirt on top, he nearly cries. They didn’t forget him. They kept his things. 

By the time they’re all clean, changed, and bandaged, Happy walks into the waiting room, holding the hand of a small girl. Peter’s heart stops. _It couldn’t be._

The little girl immediately runs to her mother, “Mommy, Uncle Happy said something was wrong with daddy.” Her eyes are wide with fear.

Pepper kisses the top of her head, lifting her into her arms, “He’s going to be okay, Morgan.” _Morgan. Her name is Morgan._ Pepper looks up at Peter over Morgan’s head and gives him a small smile before addressing her daughter once more, “Morgan, I have someone very important for you to meet.” Morgan turns over her shoulder and looks up at Peter with immense curiosity. Pepper turns Morgan around in her lap so that Peter is facing the little girl. “This is your brother.” _Brother. Brother. Brother._ This tiny girl in front of him is his _sister_. 

Morgan grins and climbs into Peter’s lap, “You’re Peter.” _She knows his name._ All Peter can do is nod. “My daddy told me that you’re Spiderman and you’re the best hero ever!” Morgan says enthusiastically. She leans in close to whisper conspiratorially to Peter, “Don’t tell daddy, but Spiderman is much better than Iron Man. He also told me that you are the smartest person in the world!”

And that’s what breaks Peter. Tony told his daughter about him. He told her about Spiderman. He told her that he’s her brother. 

Peter sets Morgan back in Pepper’s lap as fast as he can and runs. He gasps for breath as tears flow freely down his cheeks. He runs and runs until he finds a quiet empty hallway to have his breakdown in.

His breathing is too fast, he knows it is. But he's had a terrifying day. He fought Thanos twice in twenty-four hours. He _died_. Then he came back to life and told that mere seconds to him had been five years to the rest of the world. It's been five years. He's been _dead for five years_. Mr. Stark has a daughter now. A daughter who thinks he's her big brother. A daughter who is more beautiful than he ever imagined. A daughter that didn't exist yesterday. Well... yesterday to him. 

And on top of all of that, he’d almost just lost Mr. Stark. He shakes his head, no. Morgan and Pepper almost lost their father and husband. And they might yet still. 

"Breathe, Peter," someone says gently. Peter snaps right out of his thoughts and back into the middle of a hospital hallway, having a panic attack. Shit. "C'mon, deep breath, you can to it." 

A hand forces Peter's head against a chest. He can hear the steady thumping of a heart under his ear. The chest rises and falls with long breaths. "Just breathe with me, Peter. You can do it. In and out." Peter forces his lungs to fill with a small bit of air. He holds it only for a second, but it's better. "There you go." 

Peter doesn’t know how long it takes for him to calm down. It could have been minutes or hours, even days. But eventually, Peter collapses against the person, exhausted.

"See, you're alright." Peter lifts his head to see the person holding him. It's Pepper. He freezes and she gives him a sympathetic look. 

"I-I'm sorry," Peter says quickly, pulling himself away from Pepper. "I-I don't know-know what happened."

"Shh," Pepper soothes. "It's alright. It's alright." Peter takes a deep breath. “Feel any better?”

Peter nods, “I’m sorry. Um...it just hit me how long it’s been. Everything’s different for what it was yesterday and Mr. Stark has a daughter and-”

“Peter,” Pepper takes his hands and squeezes. “We’ll have time for this later. I promise you we’ll sit and have a nice long conversation about everything, but right now I think you and I need to go back to the waiting room. There’s a little girl back there who is very concerned about you.”

Peter lets a small smile cross his face, “Okay.”

“And then I think you need to take a long nap.” Peter nods. Pepper gently helps the boy to his feet and walks the two of them back to the waiting room, through the confusing hallways of the hospital. In the waiting room, Morgan is sitting on Rhodey’s lap, playing with a stuffed bear. When they walk in, Rhodey gently takes her shoulder and point to the pair. Morgan grins at the sight of her mother and brother. 

He softly apologizes once again to Morgan and Pepper. Both of them wave him off. When Peter sits down in the chair, he remembers how long of a day he’s really had. Peter is too tired and overwhelmed that he doesn’t even care that he’s falling asleep on a woman he barely knows. His head drops onto Pepper’s shoulder and just before he falls asleep, her arm wraps around his shoulders and gently rubs his back. 

Peter wakes up to someone shaking his shoulder. Peter blinks his eyes open to see Steve standing in front of him, his face covered with a worried expression. Peter lifts his head from where it lays on Pepper’s shoulder, “How are you feeling, sweetie?”

Peter gets over his immediate confusion at Pepper calling him sweetie, and answers, “Okay. What’s going on?”

Steve sighs, “The doctors have so update for us. We wanted you to hear it too.” Peter nods, sitting up more. The waiting room is dark, only lit by soft yellow lamps in the corners of the room. When he looks around, he can’t see Morgan or Rhodey anywhere. 

Pepper, seeing his wandering eyes, tells him, “They went to go get some food with Happy. We’ll tell them when they get back.” Peter nods. Something feels wrong about know about Mr. Stark’s condition before his daughter or best friends. But Steve leads the two of them over to the doctor before he can say anything. 

The doctor is kindly looking, eyes soft. Peter distantly wondering if she has someone who came back from the snap waiting for her. “Stark?” She asks. Pepper nods, her arm returning to Peter’s shoulders. He is grateful for the comfort. “We just got him out of surgery. His arm was too damaged and we had to amputate it, he has severe burns on his chest and the side of his face.”

Pepper waves her hand, “Is he okay?”

The doctor nods, “Yes. He’s going to be just fine.” Pepper and Peter let out a simultaneous sigh of relief and cling close to each other. “You can come in and see him now.” Steve squeezes Peter’s shoulder and tells him to go ahead with Pepper, he’s going to text Rhodey and Happy. Peter nods as Pepper thanks the doctor. 

The doctor leads the two down the silent hallway before they arrive at a plain white door. They take a long breath before opening the door. Inside the room is dark, only lit by two yellow bedside lights. 

On the bed is Tony, his eyes closed and his arm (or lack thereof) is wound in tight white bandages. Just like the doctor said, the right side of his face is red with burns. His chest rise and falls with his steady breaths. A breathing mask covers his nose and mouth and fills the room with a soft whirring noise, coupled with the beep of the heart monitor.

“Pepper?” Peter asks, he hugs himself. 

Hearing the anxiety in his voice, Pepper squeezes his shoulder, "Go on, it's alright."

Peter takes a tentative step forward. Then another. And another. Until Peter is standing above Tony. The man’s hair is more grey than brown now. He has more wrinkles too, but all in all, he just seems...softer.

"He looks so different," Peter says quietly. 

"He's still the same though," Pepper responds. "He still is a mechanic, a superhero, and a complete dumbass." Peter snorts. It’s true.

"Are you having fun without me?" Tony asks. Pepper and Peter gasp, looking down at Tony who is now awake. He glanced between the two with a fond smile. "Hi, Pete."

"Hi," Peter replies nervously. 

"I'll give you two a minute," Pepper squeezes Peter's shoulder on her way out. 

Tony looks up at Peter and sighs, "I missed you, kid."

Peter looks at him with sad eyes, "You did?"

Tony nods, "Of course I did, Pete. All of Morgan's bedtime stories are about the world's greatest hero, Spiderman and the world's smartest man, Peter Parker." Peter's eyes fill with unshed tears. "Have you met her yet?"

"Morgan?" Tony nods. "Uh...yeah, I have. She’s-she’s great, Mr. Stark. She’s perfect,” Peter says honestly. 

“Tony.”

Peter frowns, “What?”

Tony smiles, “My daughter calls you her big brother, we have pictures of you in our home, I have mourned you every day for five years. Call me Tony.”

Peter matches his smiles, “Tony.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love each and every one of you from the bottom of my heart.
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	29. Numb

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was a struggle to get out. huge thanks go out to @a-liddell-alice on tumblr for the prompt and just being an amazing human.

Peter is never the first up. After he moved out of the city to live with Tony and Pepper and Morgan, they’ve settled into a nice routine. It’s usually Tony or Pepper who get up first to start making the small family breakfast. Then Peter will run down the stairs chasing Morgan or both will walk in half asleep, earning fond smiles from their parents. 

But today, Peter comes down to find the kitchen silent. The lights are on, but no one is inside. He frowns, that’s not right. No food sits out on the counter or on the stove or in the oven. With a confused frown, he pads through the kitchen and to the living room. And that’s where he finds Tony, sitting on the couch, his prosthetic on the table. Tony’s hand rests in his lap, he just sits staring at it.

“Tony?” Peter asks hesitantly. 

Tony’s head snaps up, eyes wide. He calms down a bit when he sees it’s Peter, “You can come sit, Pete. It’s alright.” 

Peter sinks down onto the couch beside him, “Is everything okay?” He can see even more wrinkles stretching across Tony’s forehead. 

Tony sighs, “I don’t want to drag you down with my problems, Peter. It’s not a big deal.”

Peter frowns, “Yes it is. You always tell me that whatever upsets me is a big deal.” He leans back and crosses his arms, raising an eyebrow at Tony, daring him to challenge him.

“God,” Tony groans in frustration, “you listen to me too well.”

“So?” Tony looks up at Peter. “You’re not wearing your prosthetic.” That’s not normal. Tony has told Peter on multiple occasions that it makes him more comfortable to wear it.

“No, kid. I’m not,” Tony says softly.

“Why?”

“Peter, something the doctors told me after was that there would be...times where I would still feel like I had my arm.” Peter frowns, _what?_ “And that’s happening to me. I can feel my arm, I can feel pain in it, and I still think I can use it. Sometimes I forget I don’t have an arm, I’ll try to feel something with it and then when I can’t, I look down...it’s like losing it all over again.” 

“Tony...” Peter’s heart is breaking for the man.

Tony shakes his head, “It’s alright, Pete. I’m okay. It’s just...hard sometimes.”

Peter bites his lip, “Tony, I have no idea what I can ever say or do to make it better.”

Tony smiles down at the boy, “You don’t need to do anything. But, if you want to help, just give me a hug when I look down.”

Peter grins, “I can do that.” And without preamble, he throws himself into Tony’s arms and holds on tight. 

Tony chuckles, “Thanks, kid.” He uses his left arm to hug him back.

The next time Peter sees Tony like that, they’re spending the day on the couch. Peter and Tony have both been sick all day and Pepper banished them to the living room. Tony’s metal arm rests on the floor by the table, Tony is too tired to even entertain the idea of wearing it. Both of them have a particularly bad strand of a cold. Peter is almost asleep against Tony’s shoulder when he sees Tony move his right shoulder as if to grab a tissue from the box. Then he freezes. 

Peter is no longer tired. He sits up and takes Tony’s hand, “Tony?”

“I’m fine.” But Tony is still staring at his metal arm on the ground, taking measured breaths. Peter doesn’t know what to do. Remembering his previous conversation with the man, he tackles Tony in a hug, pressing him back into the couch. He feels Tony smiles softly. Tony’s arm twists through Peter’s curls.

“You know,” Peter says a few minutes later, his voice slightly mumbled against Tony’s chest, “you should talk with Bucky. He has the same thing. I bet he could help you better than I ever could.”

“You think that would help?” Peter nods. “I’ll give him a call then.”

Bucky and Tony meet on a sunny Saturday. Peter stays by the man’s side the whole time, he knows that there is still some tension between the two of them. The wait on the porch as Bucky walks to them, metal arm glinting in the sunlight. 

Bucky smiles at the pair, “Hey, Stark.”

“Bucky,” Tony says kindly. They shake hands, Tony using his metal one. “Thank you so much for coming.”

“I’m always ready to help a friend.” And as much as Tony tries to deny it, Peter knows he sees a smile cross his face at that.

While Tony and Bucky get talking in the living room, Peter abandons them to make some coffee. Pepper sits at the table reading something from her tablet, sipping a cup of tea, she gives him a sly smirk when she sees him, “Rhodey owes me ten bucks.”

Peter snorts, “What for?”

“He bet that you would get Tony help in four weeks. I said two,” Pepper takes a sip of her tea. “I’ve been asking him to talk to Bucky for months nows.” Peter rolls his eyes. “It’s true!” Pepper exclaims, exasperated. “He refused every single time.”

“What changed?” Peter frowns. 

Pepper lifts an eyebrow, “You came to live with us. He wants to be better for you.”

“Not Morgan?”

Pepper shakes her head, “He knows you’ll call him on his bullshit.”

“He’s right.” Pepper and Peter share a high five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3  
tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	30. Recovery

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this prompt is once again thanks to a-liddell-alice on tumblr! <3
> 
> TW: alcoholism

Tony hasn't been drunk in seven years. He hasn't had a drink in four. 

When he first started drinking it was just something that was expected of him. He went to college parties and he drank. Rhodey would take him home around midnight and force him to bed with a bucket by his head until morning. Tony doesn’t remember much of college. 

Then he drank to take away his pain. Having a hunk of metal embedded in his chest isn’t a relaxing as one might think. He doesn’t drink until drunk, or at least not as much. But once he flies through the wormhole, he can’t stop. He wakes up with nightmares every night and he pours himself a drink. He doesn’t remember much of that time either.

But he does remember the first time Peter came to the tower after school crying. He remembers how the boy had clung to Tony and sobbed. But what he remembers most is the overwhelming feeling of need to comfort him. So that’s what he did, he hugged the boy tight, made him a steaming cup of cocoa, and watched a movie until both of them fell asleep. Pepper teases him the next morning about being a dad, he didn’t even try to deny it.

Peter finally confesses what had been bothering him that day almost a week later. He sat Tony down in the lab and told him, “I’m bi.”

Tony just smiled and pulled him into a tight hug, “Okay.”

“You’re not upset with me?” Peter asks quietly. 

And looking into Peter’s wide, scared eyes, Tony has to wonder how any parent could see their kid like this and still turn them away. “Of course not, kid.” The two hug again, this time Peter’s grip is stronger. Peter exhales a soft sigh, Tony holds him tighter.

After Peter goes home that night, Tony walks into the kitchen, opens the liquor cabinet and dumps all but one bottle. If he is going to be any sort of parent to a kid as amazing as Peter Parker, he needs to do better. He needs to _be_ better. 

And he is. 

Until he isn’t. 

When the snap happens, Tony hasn’t had a drink in two years. But after Peter Parker fades away in his hands, there’s only so much he can do to forget. Once he gets back to earth and he’s healthy again, he drinks. It takes bitter in his mouth. But as the familiar buzz goes to his head, he knows he won’t’ be able to stop. 

Around his fifth or sixth one, he hears Peter’s voice over his shoulder. It’s quiet, almost a whisper. All he says is, “You promised you would be better.” 

Tony flinches, “I know you’re not real.” Peter doesn’t respond, and when Tony looks over his shoulder for the boy, no one is there. 

Tony looks down at the half-full glass in his hand and tosses its contents down the drain. Followed by the bottle the alcohol came from. 

He will be better. He can deal with his grief without his crutch. He can do it.

Almost a year after Peter...died, Morgan H Stark was born. She’s perfect, healthy, and beautiful and everything Tony expected and more. He swears he’ll be better. For Morgan and for the boy who never got to meet her. 

He doesn’t touch a drop of alcohol. 

He’s there for every one of Morgan’s first. Her laugh, her smile, her words, her steps. All of it. When Rhodey comes by the house the first thing he asks for is to see the baby. Tony grins and gently passes Rhodey his niece. 

“She’s beautiful, Tones. Really, she’s wonderful,” Rhodey’s eyes are alight with happiness. 

Once Morgan is put to bed that night, Rhodey asks for a drink. 

Tony smiles, “You’re not going to find any here, honey bear.” 

Rhodey turns to Tony with a smile, “None?” Tony shakes his head. “For how long.”

“A week after...everything.” 

Rhodey pulls Tony into a hug, “I’m proud of you, Tones. You’re an amazing dad.”

Tony smiles up at him, “Thanks.”

Tony almost cracks at the thought of time travel. He gets as far as standing in front of the alcohol section in the store. But once again he hears Peter telling him to be better, he hears Morgan’s laugh, he hears Rhodey telling him he’s doing a good job, and he feels Pepper kiss his cheek.

He drives back home. He’s going to fix everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> <3
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


	31. Embrace

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FUCKING DID IT YALL

“Tony?” Peter asks quietly one Wednesday morning before school, arms wrapped around his stomach. 

The man looks up from where he’s making the two breakfast, “Yeah?”

Peter bites his lip, “Nevermind.” He can’t do that to Tony. He can’t ask him for that. Tony’s not his dad, just a guardian until Peter is eighteen. Besides, _we’re not there yet_, he’d already told Peter no.

After May died, Tony took him in. The first night was spent with Tony holding Peter tightly as he cried into his shoulder. But after that first night, Tony hasn’t hugged him. He’s given him squeezes on the shouter, ruffled his hair, and squeezes his hands when he’s nervous. But he hasn’t given him a hug. And Peter doesn’t know how to ask. But Tony’s made it clear enough to the boy that he wants to be nothing more than a mentor.

A few days later, Peter comes home from school upset. He’d had a shitty day. He failed an English test, Ned and MJ had both been out of school, it was raining so his shoes were wet, and nothing seemed to go his way. 

When he drags his feet onto their floor, he looks for Tony. Part of Peter wants to find him, but he doesn’t know where Tony is and he doesn’t want to go look for him. Tony won’t give him the comfort he wants. 

He throws himself down onto his bed, clutching his pillows and blankets to his chest, hiding his face from the world. He cries. Nothing is going his way. He has no family left. No one that cares about him. He just wants to be alone, but not even two minutes later, Tony knocks on his door. 

“Peter? Can I come in?” Tony asks. 

“No,” Peter moans. He doesn’t want Tony to come in and awkwardly pat his shoulder while he cries. He just wants someone to hold him and tell him it’s going to be okay. Tony won’t do it, but Peter’s door opens anyway.

He curls away from the door, not even acknowledging that Tony came in. “Pete?” Tony asks. He can feel the bed shift at Tony sits. “Can you look at me, buddy?”

Peter sniffs and buries his head further under the blankets. “Leave me alone.”

A hand falls on Peter’s shoulder, just like he knew it would, “Peter, you’re upset. I want to help you.”

“You can’t,” Peter says. “Go away.”

Tony sighs, “Okay, we’re doing it this way.” Tony scoops Peter (still wrapped in blankets) into his arms and squeezes him tight. Peter struggles against him, but Tony holds him. He wants Tony to hug him, but not when he doesn’t mean it. As he struggles, the blankets fall away, letting Tony see his tear-soaked cheeks. “Oh, buddy,” Tony says softly. Peter, taking advantage of Tony’s weakness, shoves himself away. Peter curls up in the corner of his bed, ducking his head. “Peter?”

“Get out,” Peter says shortly. 

Tony sets his face, “Peter, you’re clearly upset. I’m not leaving you like this.”

“You’re not my dad!” Peter shouts, reaching his breaking point. “You don’t need to comfort me. You don’t need to sit with me while I cry. You don’t need to act like you are when you can’t even give me a hug.”

“Peter-”

“Leave me alone.” And to Peter’s surprise, he does. Tony stands and leaves, saying nothing more to the boy.

The next morning when Peter walks into the kitchen for breakfast, Tony smiles at him and scoops him into a big hug. Peter gasps but quickly returns it, not knowing how long it will last. Tony buries one hand in Peter’s hair and holds him tight. 

“I’m so sorry, Peter,” Tony whispers in his ear. “I thought you wanted me to back off and just provide a house for you to stay in. I didn’t know.”

Peter sniffs, “That’s what I thought you wanted.”

Tony huffs, “We need to work on communication, bud.” Peter nods, pulling himself out of the hug. 

“I’m sorry,” Peter whispers. 

“It’s my fault,” Tony says. “I’m the adult here. I guess I just forgot that you’re a grieving teenager who needs support and love.” 

Peter smiles, “Thanks, Tony.” Peter goes to walk away, but before he can, Tony stops him, “Just so you know, you never have to ask for a hug.”

Peter smiles and slams his body back into Tony’s arms. Tony rolls his eyes with an affectionate smile.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> YO HMU ON TUMBLR- @romeoandjulietyouwish

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading this!
> 
> Tumblr- @romeoandjulietyouwish


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